The article describes how the first courts to address the scope of copyright protection for application programs have tended to view application programming as predominantly an exercise in creative expression and accordingly have interpreted the scope of copyright protection in this area quite...

This article presents a game-theoretic model of costly litigation. The model shows that where an injurer can calibrate the level of damages done to other parties, it sacrifices in profits an amount related to the victim's litigation costs by inducing suit. Thus the structure of the legal system...

Patent scope plays a central role in the operation of the patent system, making patent claim construction a critical aspect of just about every patent litigation. With the resurgence of patent jury trials in the 1980s, the allocation of responsibility for interpreting patent claims between trial...

In Rise of the API Copyright Dead? An Updated Epitaph for Copyright Protection of Network and Functional Features of Computer Software, I analyzed and critiqued the Federal Circuit’s 2014 ruling in Oracle v. Google that revives the flawed and long-dormant Whelan framework for analyzing the...

The information revolution has brought demand-side effects to the fore of economic activity, business strategy, and intellectual property jurisprudence and policy. Intellectual property doctrines play a central role in harnessing network effects, promoting innovation to overcome excess inertia,...

This chapter examines economic models of innovation and the ramifications for intellectual property policy. It begins with stand-alone innovation and then introduces cumulative innovation. The analysis explores eligibility requirements, duration and breadth of protection, rights and defenses,...

Economic theory suggests that notice plays a critical role in resource development. Resource developers will be disinclined to make significant investments without reasonable confidence that their projects will not violate the rights of others. Land rights systems and institutions generally...

Notice of intellectual property content, ownership, boundaries, scope of rights (and limitations), enforcement institutions, and remedial consequences plays a central role in resource planning and other economic and social functions. This chapter examines the function, design, and economic...

Software patent cases often present dozens of claims requiring tremendous effort and years of costly litigation to reach a resolution. In a provocative essay, Judge William Alsup offers an innovative case management solution inspired by western frontier justice. As Judge Alsup warned attorneys...