Nonparametric Regression on Latent Covariates with an Application to Semiparametric GARCH-in-Mean Models

We consider time series models in which the conditional mean of the response variable given the past depends on latent covariates. We assume that the covariates can be estimated consistently and use an iterative nonparametric kernel smoothing procedure for estimating the conditional mean function. The covariates are assumed to depend (non)parametrically on past values of the covariates and of the observations. Our procedure is based on iterative ¯ts of the covariates and nonparametric kernel smoothing of the conditional mean function. An asymptotic theory for the resulting kernel estimator is developed and the estimator is used for testing parametric speci¯cations of the mean function. Our leading example is a semiparametric class of GARCH-in-Mean models. In this set-up our procedure provides a formal framework for testing economic theories that postulate functional relations between macroeconomic or ¯nancial variables and their conditional second moments. We illustrate the usefulness of the methodology by testing the linear risk-return relation predicted by the ICAPM.Speci¯cation test, GARCH-M, semiparametric regression, risk premium, ICAPM.

Revisiting the Doctrine of Inequitable Conduct Before the Patent and Trademark Office

I would like to thank the editors of Fordham\u27s Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal for including the very important subject of inequitable conduct reform in this Symposium. And I\u27d particularly like to commend them for their impeccable timing; this Symposium is being held on the Friday before oral arguments in the Federal Circuit\u27s en banc rehearing of the inequitable conduct issues in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson and Co.\u27 As many of you know, it has been over twenty years since the Federal Circuit last convened en banc to address the inequitable conduct doctrine in Kingsdown Medical Consultants, Ltd. v. HollisterInc.2 At that time, Judge Nichols had just uttered his now-famous rant, calling the doctrine an absolute plague. 3 Echoes of the cry of plague have been heard with increasing frequency in recent years, ultimately leading the Federal Circuit to agree to a wholesale en banc reconsideration of the doctrine of inequitable conduct.4 My remarks today will be divided into four main parts. First, I will provide a little background on the substantive requirements of the doctrine of inequitable conduct. Second, I will discuss some of the doctrinal incongruities that have led to the current cry for reform. Third, I will discuss the Federal Circuit\u27s en banc questions in Therasense 6, and will discuss some of the positions taken by the nearly three dozen amici curiae who 7 filed briefs at the merits-rehearing stage of Therasense. Finally, I would like to briefly address one issue that has lurked at the periphery of the inequitable conduct doctrine-the place of patent prosecution counsel in litigation where inequitable conduct is alleged

Asymptotics for parametric GARCH-in-Mean Models

In this paper we develop an asymptotic theory for the parametric GARCH-in-Mean model. The asymptotics is based on a study of the volatility as a process of the model parameters. The proof makes use of stochastic recurrence equations for this random function and uses exponential inequalities to localize the problem. Our results show why the asymptotics for this specification is quite complex although it is a rather standard parametric model. Nevertheless, our theory does not yet treat all standard specifications of the mean function

Creativity, artificial intelligence, and the requirement of human authors and inventors in copyright and patent law

Copyright and patent law require the identification of an author or inventor, and further require the author or inventor to be human. We explore this requirement primarily with reference to U.S. law and provide additional illustrations from U.K. and E.U. law. A key rationale underlying the requirement of a human author or inventor is that there is something special and important about human creativity. As AI, particularly generative AI, becomes more capable of producing outputs that look like they could have been human-created, arguments have increasingly been raised that the AI-generated outputs should be afforded copyright and patent protection, on the same basis as those made by human authors and inventors. And there have been arguments that these AI-generated outputs exhibit sufficient creativity, novelty, or innovativeness, to satisfy the laws’ underlying creativity rationale. We examine the concept of creativity from a multidisciplinary perspective, and identify three conceptually distinct components, all of which are necessary for a complete account of creativity. The external component refers to whether an artifact (or idea, or other thing) exhibits the qualities of being novel, valuable, and (on some accounts) surprising. The subjective component focuses on the psychological process of a creative act, which appears to involve a dance between task-focused and mental-wandering states, mediated by a salience functionality, where the person recognizes and selects novel, appropriate ideas. Third, embedded in the analysis of both the external and subjective components is a (largely-implicit) recognition that the social context is integral to creativity; it plays a role in determining whether an artifact has value (or is “appropriate”), and influences the subjective psychological process of plucking certain ideas or conceptions out of the flow of mental activity. With this enriched account of creativity, we examine how copyright and patent law value not only the creativity of the artifact, but also (to varying extents) the subjective role and social context as part of creativity. We then consider some ways in which arguments that AI generated artifacts should be eligible for IP protection (e.g., because they are “just as good as” at least some human-generated and IP-eligible artifacts) are insufficient to satisfy the enriched understanding of the creativity requirement underlying the IP laws

X-ray scatter measurements from thermally slumped thin glass substrates for the HEFT hard x-ray telescopes

We have performed x-ray specular reflectivity and scattering measurements of thermally slumped glass substrates on x-ray diffractometers utilizing a rotating anode x-ray source at the Danish Space Research Institute (DSRI) and synchrotron radiation at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) optics Bending Magnet beamline. In addition, we tested depth graded W/Si multilayer-coated slumped glass using x-ray specular reflectivity measurements at 8.048 keV and 28 keV and energy-dispersive measurements in the 20-50 keV rang at a double-axis diffractometer at the Orsted Laboratory, University of Copenhagen. The thermally slumped glass substrates will be used to fabricate the hard x-ray grazing incidence optics for the High-Energy Focusing Telescope. We compared the measurements to the SODART- mirrors from the SRG telescope mission program. The surface scatter measurement of the thermally slumped glass substrates yields Half Power Diameters (HPD's) of single- bounce mirrors of full-illuminated lengths of ~ 40 arcseconds for typical substrates and as low as ~ 10 arcseconds for the best substrates, whereas the SODART mirrors yields HPD's of ~ 80 arcseconds with very little variation. Both free-standing glass substrates and prototype mounted and multilayer-coated optics were tested. The result demonstrate that the surface scatter contribution, plus any contribution from the mounting procedure, to the Half Power Diameter from a telescope using the slumped glass optics will be in the subarcminute range.In addition we measured low surface microroughness, yielding high reflectivity, from the glass substrates, as well as from the depth graded W/Si multilayer-coated glass glass (interfacial width 4.2 Å)