Intellectual Property in Government Contracts: Protecting and Enforcing IP at the State and Federal Level, is an intriguing book by the trilogy of James G McEwen, David S Bloch and Richard M Gray. The first two named authors are in private practice, while the third has the grand title of Associate General Counsel (Acquisition & Logistics), Department of Defense. One imagines the different perspectives which their careers must have conferred upon them, and the habits of thought which must separate the approaches of the procurer and the procuree. The web-blurb, from the New York desk of revered British publishers Oxford University Press, is unusually short for a book costing so many dollars:
“This book provides a unique comprehensive survey of U.S. federal intellectual property procurement laws as well as a detailed analysis of state procurement rules. Encompassing the concerns of the private and government sectors, this book is a groundbreaking, valuable resource for both sectors. It gives an extensive overview of U.S. federal and state procurement systems, and strategies for handling government misuse of private-sector IP rights.
The book is intended for an expanding audience of academics, government lawyers, in-house and outside private attorneys specializing in procurement law, and practitioners of international and intellectual property litigation”.
Given the large scale of US Federal military research and its potential for both military and civilian exploitation (something this reviewer first discovered to his immense and lasting astonishment at an LES meeting over 20 years ago), it is not surprising that this book is long and detailed (it would have been longer, were it not for the lean, clean prose). What was unexpected, though, was the amount of government IP activity that takes place at State level, occupying far more than half the book. Copyright is a culprit here, with contracts relating to computer programs playing an important role. A further surprise, given the foreigner’s belief that Americans prefer to spend all their spare time in court, is the relative dearth of case law in the footnotes. But given the application of principles of sovereign immunity and the facility to slip a provision into a contract calling for a more discreet form of dispute resolution where appropriate, it’s not a surprise after all.
Bibliographic details: xiv + 596 pages, soft covers. ISBN13: 9780195338560, ISBN 10: 0195338561. Price US$185. Book’s web page here. Rupture factor: low.
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Also on contracts, but a very different book, is
Modern Licensing Law, this being the 2009-2010 edition of the classic by West. Authored by Raymond T. Nimmer (Profesor, University of Houston) and Jeff C. Dodd (partner in Texas law firm Andrews Kurth LLP), it is of recent provenance but sound pedigree. According to publishers West:
“This new work treats licensing law as a distinct body of law. The authors discuss the laws, decisions, traditions, and practices that comprise the law of licensing as it is practiced today. Discussions include contract, property, and public policy doctrines. This comprehensive treatment of contemporary case law and statutory provisions gives you a solid foundation for dealing with today’s licensing questions.
Features
- Coverage of financing intellectual property assets, including new developments in UCC Article 9;
- Discusses both contract law [well, that's a relief ...] and antitrust considerations [... every silver lining has a cloud?] in licensing;
- Emphasis is placed on modern law developments;
- Includes an extensive discussion of licensing in digital and online industries [this is probably its strongest selling point. Lawyers with ample experience and/or good memories can get by pretty well with basic principles in some areas of IP licensing, but the IPKat says this doesn't work here -- basically if you're still doing now what you were doing three years ago, you should be asking why];
- Prepared by two leading experts in licensing law and practice”.
There’s actually a lot more than just licensing law in this work, since the authors take the reader way past the conclusion of the IP licence, into the courtroom (there’s some good content on both pecuniary and non-pecuniary relief for breach) and beyond, into bankruptcy, death and oblivion … Much of the second volume is taken up with antitrust issues, but we live in an imperfect world in which IP licensees, and groups of IP-driven businesses, cannot be trusted to play with their monopoly toys without special legal provisions to prevent them hurting others.
Bibliographic details: . Price: US$462. Book’s web page here. Rupture factor: if you take the two volumes together, substantial — though each by itself handles well.
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Tags: Copyright · Design rights · Trade marks
What to give an IP geek for Christmas or Hanukkah? A book, yes, always a good idea. But maybe something a bit lighter than Trademark License Agreements Line by Line: A Detailed Look at Trademark License Agreements and How to Change Them to Meet Your Needs by Erik W. Kahn.
For the copyright lawyer, this Kat recommends Edward Samuels’ Illustrated History of Copyright. It’s out of print, and the author has made available an online version, but you can still get new copies from Amazon – definitely worth it. As Raymond Dowd from the New York Law Journa
l put it:
With its sound scholarship, The Illustrated Story of Copyright succeeds brilliantly. In a mere 250 pages it makes clear and resolves seemingly disparate elements of an area of law that dominates our collective economic and cultural future. But this is not its true success. Its highest achievement is communicating in a novel manner one man’s love affair with the tangible achievements of the human mind in all forms to a general audience. General practitioners will find demystification, copyright practitioners will find depth. Buy it.
If there is one nit to pick with the “Illustrated Story” it’s that it is a bit US-centric.
For the trade mark specialist, Trademarked: A History of Well-known Brands, from Airtex to Wrights Coal Tar, by David Newton, also provides some light and entertaining reading. Synopsis:
In the first 30 years of trade registration—between 1876 and 1906—more than 250,000 marks were registered in Britain. In this book, David Newton—formerly Head of Patents Information at the British Library—has selected 220 of the most interesting and curious of those early brands. Shell originated with one Marcus Samuel selling antiques and curios, including sea shells, in Smithfield in 1833; it was only when his son visited the Caspian Sea and saw an opportunity to export oil from Russia that trade in the better known product began. An advertising campaign for Listerine mouthwash, originally a disinfectant for surgical procedures, coined the phrase “always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” From Carlsberg beer to Triumph cars, from Lea and Perrin sauces to Beecham’s pills, we learn the history of these brands, the companies which registered them, and how the brands have developed over the years.
Definitely on the light side are the recommendations for the patent attorney – but the usual fare in patent law such as Patent Infringement Worldwide: Claim Interpretation – Infringement – Damages (Jan Busche, Michael Trimborn, Bernd Fabry (eds)) is no easy reading at all, so some counterbalance is in order.
Patently Absurd: The Most Ridiculous Devices Ever Invented by Christopher Cooper provides such light reading. Publisher’s description:
Patently Absurd explores the funnier side of our inventive spirit by featuring actual 
patented products that have to be seen to be believed. The book features such inventions as “an animal powered drive,” where an animal is used to move a belt and power a vehicle and a bird diaper to keep those pet birds clean. Gloves for couples who wish to hold hands in cold weather is the outcome of another patented idea, an improvement on ordinary gloves that are “unsatisfactory and indeed unromantic,” where two hands can be inserted in one glove. An introduction outlines the background to patenting an invention and its history. Inventions are taken from patent offices internationally and are grouped in sections covering sport and exercise, household, animals, transport, clothing, and leisure.
Similar in content, but out of print, is Patently Ridiculous: Scuba-diving Dogs, Beerbrellas, Musical Toothpaste and Other Patented Strokes of Genius by Richard Ross. You can still get some new copies on Amazon, though. This collection of bizarre inventions concentrates on US patents.
Further recommendations by IPKat readers in the comment section are very welcome!
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Tags: Copyright · Design rights · Trade marks
A Defense Of Intellectual Property Rights, by Richard A. Spinello and Maria Bottis, is that rare creature these days — a book on intellectual property rights that is not predicated by the considerations of economics and the demands of the marketplace. A little unfashionably, the authors argue the case that intellectual property rights are justified on non-economic grounds. Then they get a tiny little bit more fashionable, since they believe that the rationale for this moral justification is primarily inspired by the philosophy of John Locke (in this they are not alone: Lior Zemer has waved the Locke supporters’ club banner when justifying his views on authorship in copyright, and Uma Suthersanen too has favoured his approach). Adds the publisher’s web-blurb:
“In the process of defending Locke, the authors confront the deconstructionist critique of intellectual property rights and remove the major barriers interfering with a proper understanding of authorial entitlement. The book also familiarizes the reader with the rich historical and legal tradition [the words 'rich historical and legal tradition' depress this Kat: they remind him of all the things the British government has changed for the sake of change in recent years. It's almost as though being a rich tradition is a sort of death warrant] behind intellectual property protection”.
Richard Spinello is Associate Research Professor in the Carroll School of Management, Boston College, US; Maria Bottis lectures in the Department of Archive and Library Sciences of the Ionian University, Greece. This combination conjures up images of dynamic management skills blended with patient research lovingly harvested from the dusty vaults of archived materials. At any rate, it works well. Defending IP rights in this cynical age is about as much fun as proving the existence of fairies, but at least these authors have done a credible job of it. Like ants, humans are tireless workers in their various creative activities; unlike ants, they are individuals and the protection of their differences — and the cultivation of the personal output which distinguishes them from one another — can itself provide a reason for protection.
Bibliographic details. Date of publication 2009. ix + 218 pp. Hardback. ISBN 978 1 84720 395 3. £59.95 (price with publisher’s online discount £53.96). Book’s web page here. Rupture factor: small.
Global Pharmaceutical Policy: Ensuring Medicines for Tomorrow’s World, by Frederick M. Abbott (Edward Ball Eminent Scholar Professor of International Law, Florida State University College of Law) and Graham Dukes (External Professor of Drug Policy Studies, Institute of General Practice and Community Health, University of Oslo, Norway).
According to the publisher’s web-blurb:
“Pharmaceuticals play a central role in health care throughout the world. The pharmaceutical industry is beset with difficulties as increasing research and development expenditure yields fewer new treatments. Public and private budgets strain under the weight of high prices and limited access. The world’s poor see little effort to address diseases prevalent in less affluent societies, while the world’s wealthy are overusing prescription drugs, risking their health and wasting resources [Alas, it doesn't need a book to support these contentions, which are the 'givens' faced by pharma IP owners, generic manufacturers, policy-makers and patients alike].
As the global economic crisis exacerbates pressure on health care budgets, a new presidential administration in Washington, DC has committed to broad health care reform. These circumstances form the backdrop for this extraordinarily timely examination of the global system for the development, production, distribution and use of medicines. The authors are acknowledged experts in the fields of pharmaceutical law and policy, with many years experience advising governments, multilateral organizations and policy-makers on issues involving innovation, access and use of medicines. Supported by a team of independent scientists, doctors and lawyers, they take an insightful look at the issues surrounding global regulation of the pharmaceutical sector, and offer pragmatic suggestions for reform [To talk of 'global systems' and 'global regulation' is to take a lofty view of the various means, at once complementary and contradictory, that link the development, testing, distribution, sale and use of pharma products in the linked worlds of the rich, the developing and the economically stunted nations].
This book will be of interest to government policy-makers, members of industry, healthcare professionals, teachers, students and lawyers in the fields of public health, intellectual property and international trade”.
At the heart of this book lies chapter 4, “The global regulatory environment: quality, safety and efficacy”, which summarises and emphasises one of the work’s most important points. The traditional notions of consumer protection, based on the presumption in favour of caveat emptor, are entirely inadequate in the field of medicine. This is the message that will remain with the reader when the data, the tables and the analysis have all faded into the background of the reader’s consciousness.
Bibliographic details. Publication date 2009. x and 308 pp. Hardback. ISBN 978 1 84844 090 6. Price £ 75 (with publisher’s online discount £ 67.50). Book’s web page.
here. Rupture factor: light.
Intellectual Property Policy Reform: Fostering Innovation and Development, edited by Christopher Arup (Professor of Business Law, Monash University, Australia) and William van Caenegem (Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, Bond University, Australia), contains contributions from not all but at least some of the ‘usual suspects’: the names of such productive souls as Peter Drahos, William Kingston and Matthew Rimmer are to be found among them.
So what does the publisher say about this text? According to the book’s website:
“This state-of-the-art study argues that reforms to intellectual property (IP) should be based on the ways IP is interacting with new technologies, business models, work patterns and social mores. It identifies emerging IP reform proposals and experiments, indicating first how more rigor and independence can be built into the grant of IP rights so that genuine innovations are recognized [but this still leaves the question as to who does the recognising ...].
The original contributions illustrate how IP rights can be utilised, through open source licensing systems and private transfers, to disseminate knowledge. Reforms are recommended. The discussion takes in patents, copyright, trade secrets and relational obligations, considering the design of legislative directives, default principles, administrative practices, contractual terms and license specifications.
Providing contemporary empirical studies and covering public administration, collective and open approaches, and regulation of private transactions, this comprehensive book will prove a stimulating read for academics and students of law, business and management and development studies. Government policy makers and regulators as well as IP managers and advocates will also find much to provoke thought”.
Of particular interest to this reader was Part II, dealing with Open Intellectual Property Systems. Matthew Rimmer’s contribution on Wikipedia, collective authorship and the politics of knowledge is welcome, since serious contributions to the literature of the wiki from IP authors are in short supply.
Bibliographic details. Published 2009. viii + 324 pp. Hardback 978 1 84844 163 7. £ 79.95 (with publisher’s online discount £ 71.96). Book’s web page here. Rupture factor: small.
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Tags: Copyright · Design rights · Trade marks
Intellectual Property in Government Contracts: Protecting and Enforcing IP at the State and Federal Level, is an intriguing book by the trilogy of James G McEwen, David S Bloch and Richard M Gray. The first two named authors are in private practice, while the third has the grand title of Associate General Counsel (Acquisition & Logistics), Department of Defense. One imagines the different perspectives which their careers must have conferred upon them, and the habits of thought which must separate the approaches of the procurer and the procuree. The web-blurb, from the New York desk of revered British publishers Oxford University Press, is unusually short for a book costing so many dollars:
