> Lending a Hand: The Need for Public Participation in Patent Examination and Beyond

Author: Duane, Matthew

The current patent examination system is largely insular, shielded from outside influence with patents granted by a single examiner working within a limited sphere of knowledge. With this limitation on examiners, along with the sometimes manipulative behaviors of inventors and lawyers using the system, patents are often granted that are of dubious character, that are far more valuable as bargaining chips and litigation tools than representations of “novel” inventions. However, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has recently begun using a voluntary system known as the “Peer to Patent Project” which allows the public to provide prior art references to pending applications. This system addresses many of the issues inherent in the current examination process, but still leaves room for improvement. This article discusses the problems with the current system, the benefits of the Peer to Patent system, and suggests improvements that can make the Peer to Patent system a tool which benefits all parties involved.

Cite: 7 CHI.-KENT J. INTELL. PROP. 57

> Reviving Fair Use: Why Sony’s Expansion of Fair Use Sparked the File-Sharing Craze

Author: Hower, Christopher Alan

This article discusses the development and impermissible expansion of the fair use affirmative defense under Sony, which stole the right of access to copyrighted works from copyright holders. In turn, this shift of control encouraged consumers to take access when possible, even when such a taking constitutes infringement. This article also proposes legislation to remedy the current misapplication of fair use, and the justification and effects for such a modification.

Cite: 7 CHI.-KENT J. INTELL. PROP. 75

> Riding the Tiger: A Comparison of Intellectual Property Rights in the United States and The People’s Republic of China

Author: Crane, Jennifer A.

The United States’ intellectual property system developed from internal pressure to protect the ownership rights of citizens. In contrast, China’s budding system resulted from external treaties. The current United States’ regime is responsive to owners’ rights while China’s system allows the government plausible deniability, enabling international intellectual property owners to have paper rights without any providing any effective enforcement procedure. The comparison of these systems demonstrates that despite any written law, intellectual property systems only become potent when it becomes domestically beneficial. It is the selfish desire to strengthen its own economy that motivates a country’s formation of an intellectual property rights system. This paper will explore the development of the United States’ intellectual property rights system and China’s underlying cultural resistance, furthered by the current communist regime, to the granting and protecting of intellectual property rights. Next, I shall seek to investigate the international pressures that influenced China’s present intellectual property rights system as well as the operation of current Chinese intellectual property rights protection. Finally, this effort will compare the functioning of early American intellectual property protection with the modern Chinese system to provide insight as to if and when China will effectively enforce intellectual property rights domestically.

Cite: 7 CHI.-KENT J. INTELL. PROP. 95