Fordham IPLJ Annual Symposium: Where Do We Go from Here?
Date(s): 11.16.07 | Fri
Time: 9:00am - 4:30pm
Location: James B.M. McNally Amphitheatre, Fordham University School of Law
Sponsor: Fordham Intellectual Property, Media, and Entertainment Law Journal
Where do we go from here?
Technology and Information have outpaced the law for more than a decade. The unforeseen possibilities with the internet combined with booming technological, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries have outpaced legislation and left the courts struggling to keep pace. Now as the proposed Patent Reform Bill of 2007 continues through Congress, Business Method Patents continue to expand, New Business Models are challenging traditional copyright industries, and trademarks are more difficult to protect, it is time to ask are we moving in the right direction?
If not, then where do we go from here?
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The Business Method Patent and the Patent Reform Act of 2007: Can the law keep pace with technology? Has the business method patent become an important asset or an uncontrollable menace in the decade since State Street? With the current backlog of business method patent applications and the exponential progress of technology will the Patent Reform Act of 2007 provide us with solutions? The rising costs of patent litigation in the past two decades may push reform through Congress, but that change may favor only a few. Can judicial interpretation and legislation keep up or will the pace of technological innovation and economics prevail?
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The Death or Rebirth of the Copyright? Will new business models driven by technology be the end of the copyright? Or can copyright owners effectively fight back through litigation and/or Congress? If the owners seek relief in Congress, can copyright law be changed to find an effective balance? Or in this new information age with almost unfettered public access, will the only solution be through new business models? Over the past decade some businesses have reevaluated their use of technology and their overall business models. Some of these have found success while others have lagged behind and dwindled. Now many if not most industries face this choice. Those who will be forced to fight the hardest will most likely be those who traditionally have been the most protected by copyrights.
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Trademarks v. Free Speech in Cyberspace: Should an action for trademark disparagement exist against an individual? Are there enough state and common law principles to provide recourse? The consequence of broad public access to information via the internet is a forum in which individuals and corporations can manipulate the use and opinion of trademarks with few repercussions, thus circumventing the commercial advertising or promotion required under the Lanham Act. Can a balance be found between trademarks and free speech in cyberspace?
IPLJ Symposium Schedule, November 16, 2007
08:30 Registration
09:00 Introduction
09:15 Panel I - The Business Method Patent and the Patent Reform Act of 2007: Can the law keep pace with technology?
11:00 Break
11:30 Panel II - The Death or Rebirth of the Copyright?
13:15 Lunch
14:30 Panel III - Trademarks v. Free Speech in Cyberspace
16:15 Conclusion
16:30 Cocktail Reception
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