Prospect patents, data markets, and the commons in data-driven medicine : openness and the political economy of intellectual property rights

Scholars who point to political influences and the regulatory function of patent courts in the USA have long questioned the courts’ subjective interpretation of what ‘things’ can be claimed as inventions. The present article sheds light on a different but related facet: the role of the courts in regulating knowledge production. I argue that the recent cases decided by the US Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit, which made diagnostics and software very difficult to patent and which attracted criticism for a wealth of different reasons, are fine case studies of the current debate over the proper role of the state in regulating the marketplace and knowledge production in the emerging information economy. The article explains that these patents are prospect patents that may be used by a monopolist to collect data that everybody else needs in order to compete effectively. As such, they raise familiar concerns about failure of coordination emerging as a result of a monopolist controlling a resource such as datasets that others need and cannot replicate. In effect, the courts regulated the market, primarily focusing on ensuring the free flow of data in the emerging marketplace very much in the spirit of the ‘free the data’ language in various policy initiatives, yet at the same time with an eye to boost downstream innovation. In doing so, these decisions essentially endorse practices of personal information processing which constitute a new type of public domain: a source of raw materials which are there for the taking and which have become most important inputs to commercial activity. From this vantage point of view, the legal interpretation of the private and the shared legitimizes a model of data extraction from individuals, the raw material of information capitalism, that will fuel the next generation of data-intensive therapeutics in the field of data-driven medicine

In the Dock. Examining the UK’s Criminal Justice Response to Trafficking.

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.ASI_2013_SUK_UK_In_the_dock.pdf: 350 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020.0-ASI_2013_SUK_UK_In the dock summary.pdf: 18 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Roles in construction projects: analysis and terminology

Standard form contracts are typically developed through a negotiated consensus, unless they are proffered by one specific interest group. Previously published plans of work and other descriptions of the processes in construction projects tend to focus on operational issues, or they tend to be prepared from the point of view of one or other of the dominant interest groups. Legal practice in the UK permits those who draft contracts to define their terms as they choose. There are no definitive rulings from the courts that give an indication as to the detailed responsibilities of project participants. The science of terminology offers useful guidance for discovering and describing terms and their meanings in their practical context, but has never been used for defining terms for responsibilities of participants in the construction project management process. Organizational analysis enables the management task to be deconstructed into its elemental parts in order that effective organizational structures can be developed. Organizational mapping offers a useful technique for reducing text-based descriptions of project management roles and responsibilities to a comparable basis. Research was carried out by means of a desk study, detailed analysis of nine plans of work and focus groups representing all aspects of the construction industry. No published plan of work offers definitive guidance. There is an enormous amount of variety in the way that terms are used for identifying responsibilities of project participants. A catalogue of concepts and terms (a “Terminology”) has been compiled and indexed to enable those who draft contracts to choose the most appropriate titles for project participants. The purpose of this terminology is to enable the selection and justification of appropriate terms in order to help define roles. The terminology brings an unprecedented clarity to the description of roles and responsibilities in construction projects and, as such, will be helpful for anyone seeking to assemble a team and specify roles for project participants

Areas of outstanding natural beauty management plans - a guide

This is a summary of the guidance produced by the Countryside Agency to assist local authorities, AONB staff units, AONB partners and others concerned with the production and implementation of AONB Management Plans in England. A parallel text has been produced by the Countryside Council for Wales to cover Welsh AONBs. The aims of the guide are to: • assist local authorities and conservation boards to discharge their statutory functions with regard to the production of AONB Management Plans; • help ensure that Management Plans that are produced are appropriate to the needs of the AONB, have the commitment of all AONB partners1 and other stakeholders, are implemented, and their policy objectives achieved. The guide is has statutory force under the 2001 Countryside and Rights of Way Ac

AI-Generated Fashion Designs: Who or What Owns the Goods?

As artificial intelligence (“AI”) becomes an increasingly prevalent tool in a plethora of industries in today’s society, analyzing the potential legal implications attached to AI-generated works is becoming more popular. One of the industries impacted by AI is fashion. AI tools and devices are currently being used in the fashion industry to create fashion models, fabric designs, and clothing. An AI device’s ability to generate fashion designs raises the question of who will own the copyrights of the fashion designs. Will it be the fashion designer who hires or contracts with the AI device programmer? Will it be the programmer? Or will it be the AI device itself? Designers invest a lot of talent, time, and finances into designing and creating each article of clothing and accessory it releases to the public; yet, under the current copyright standards, designers will not likely be considered the authors of their creations. Ultimately, this Note makes policy proposals for future copyright legislation within the United States, particularly recommending that AI-generated and AI-assisted designs be copyrightable and owned by the designers who purchase the AI device

Fisheries legislation of Lake Victoria: present legislation and new developments

This paper provides an overview of fisheries legislation in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania as far it concerns the administration of Lake Victoria's fishery. It also provides brief comment on the structure of these nations' fisheries departments and how they have evolved in recent years. The administration of Kenya's Lake Victoria fishery has changed very little since the introduction of the 1988 Fisheries Act. In Tanzania and Uganda, however, government policies of decentralization have had a profound impact on fisheries administration at a local level. This paper examines these changes and speculates about possible future management scenarios for these two countrie

Decoding Judicial Reasoning in China: A Comparative Empirical Analysis of Guiding Cases

The judicial system in China recently started using legal precedents—known as guiding cases—as a new legal source to eliminate adjudicative inconsistency. Guiding cases (“GCs”) present the current judicial reasoning to some extent and can be used to predict the future of judicial reasoning in China. What are GCs? What legal issues do GCs address? How do they address legal issues? How do GCs affect the legal system and adjudication in China? This Article answers these questions with empirical evidence and comparisons to judicial reasoning in the United States. It is the first empirical research providing a systematic review of all the GCs published by November 2019. GCs are de facto binding and treated as legal precedents by Chinese judges, even though the literature used to heavily debate whether they are “common-law precedents.” This Article’s research rejects the dichotomy between civil law and common law in the modern age. Instead, after reviewing the development and history of law in China, this Article argues that the Chinese legal system is in fact a dynamic mix between the civil and common law systems. The empirical design revisits American jurisprudential criteria to decode judicial reasoning in China. Even though these jurisprudential criteria are debatable by themselves, the hypotheses and the coding strategy rely on their overlaps and conflicts – a public or private interest-concentrated perspective: How do Chinese courts treat the public and private interests under the various degrees of government intervention? The empirical analyses in this Article suggest that Chinese courts are on the path towards pragmatism and that there are common characteristics of the judicial reasoning in China shared by the U.S. Supreme Court. On the one hand, judges in China are state agents and follow state policies. They address social concerns and the public interest, which do not necessarily harm private interests or suggest conflicts with private interests. On the other hand, the Chinese courts are independent from administrative agencies, even though they defer to government interpretations of law to a greater extent than the U.S. Supreme Court