| Editorial |
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| Peer-reviewed articles
and special features |
- Economic Perspectives on a
Multilateral Agreement on Open Access to Basic Science and Technology
John Barton and Keith Maskus, pp.369-387
In this essay the authors set
out a general proposal for a multilateral agreement on "open access" in
basic science and technology. The authors discuss the economic
foundations for such an accord, which they call an Agreement for Access
to Basic Science and Technology (ABST), and analyse the principal issues
that would emerge in establishing it.
- University Technology Transfer
Mike Cox, pp.388-407
This article describes the
experiences and general observations of the author at Heriot-Watt
University and concerns the transfer of university technology for the
purposes of commercialisation. Full commercial exploitation of a
university invention generally requires transferring that technology
into the industrial arena, usually either by formation of a new company
or licensing into an existing company. Commercialisation activities need
to be carried out in unison with the prime activities of the university
of research and teaching. Responsibility for commercialising university
inventions generally rests with a specific group within the university,
typically referred to as the technology transfer group. Each technology
transfer should be considered individually and appropriate arrangements
made for that particular invention. In general, this transfer process
involves four stages: identification, evaluation, protection and
exploitation. Considerations under these general headings are outlined
from a university viewpoint. A phased approach is generally preferred
where possible for the evaluation, protection and exploitation of an
invention to balance risk with potential reward. Evaluation of the
potential opportunity for a university invention involves essentially
the same considerations as for an industrial invention. However, there
are a range of commercial exploitation routes and potential deals so
that only general guidelines can be given. Naturally, the final deal
achieved is that which can be negotiated. The potential rewards for the
university and inventor are both financial (via licensing income and
equity realisation) and non-financial.
- Commodifying the ‘information age’: Intellectual property rights,
the state and the Internet
Christopher May, pp.408-419
This article examines the role
of the state and the rule of law in relation to the problem of
intellectual property on the Internet. It concludes that the claim that
states are no longer effective actors (and hence subjecting to them to
political pressure is a waste of time) has conveniently omitted the
state’s role as guarantor of the legislative infrastructure that
underlies market activity. The state is critically required to legally
support the markets of the ‘new economy’, and while its means of market
intervention may have changed, this is not the same as withdrawal. The
history of intellectual property has been a political battle to balance
the rights of owners with the very important social benefits that flow
from social availability of information and knowledge. Thus, states
remain a key site for political mobilisation as regards the central
legal structures of the (so-called) information society.
- ‘Private Facts’: Is Naomi Campbell a
Good Model?
Raymond Wacks, pp.420-433
This article analyses the
implications of the Naomi Campbell case for the protection of privacy
and the long gestation process of a common law privacy tort.
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| Analysis |
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Quelques mots sur les contrats de
vente de mots (Observations sur la condamnation judiciaire en
France de Google pour son système Adwords)
(A few words on contracts on words)
Cédric Manara, pp.434-439
A French court has ruled
against Google France in an intellectual property dispute, saying
the company infringed trademark laws for allowing advertisers to
combine their text notices to trademarked search terms. This
decision, which is not a temporary injunction, is unique, and it
is also the first in the world to find Google liable for its
AdWords program. This short analysis recaps the reason how the law
applied to the search tool, and highlights that the judicial
decision has probably no effect for the defendant: not because it
has been ruled in France, but because advertisers who buy AdWords
agree to indemnify Google for any liability and cause of action.
Therefore, this shows that these conflicts of laws in cyberspace
are not those we thought so far…
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Qué entendemos por transferencia
internacional de datos según la última jurisprudencia del Tribunal
de Justicia de las Comunidades Europeas
(The ECJ and the Concept of International Transfer of Data)
Alfonso Ortega Giménez, pp.440-448
The object of the present study is to analyse from
the perspective of the recent jurisprudence of the European Court
of Justice, what is understood for international transfer of information.
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The Regulation of Human Genetic Databases in Japan
Gerard Porter, pp.449-487
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| Peer-reviewed student papers |
- ‘Regulating’ Online Data Privacy
Paul Reid, pp.488-504
With existing data
protection laws proving inadequate in the fight to protect online
data privacy and with the offline law of privacy in a state of
change and uncertainty, the search for an alternative solution to
the important problem of online data privacy should commence. With
the inherent problem of jurisdiction that the Internet presents,
such a solution is best coming from a multi-national body with the
power to approximate laws in as many jurisdictions as possible,
with a recognised authority and a functioning enforcement
mechanism. The European Union is such a body and while existing
data protection laws stem from the EU, they were neither tailored
specifically for the Internet and the online world, nor do they
fully harmonise the laws of the member states – an essential
element in Internet regulation. Current laws face further problems
with the ease and frequency of data transfers outwith the EU. An
Internet specific online data privacy regulation would fully
approximate the laws of the twenty five member states and, if
suitably drafted, could perhaps, drawing upon EC competition
jurisprudence, achieve a degree of extraterritoriality, thus
combating the problem posed by transfers outwith the EU. Any
solution, however, is dependant upon our political leaders having
the political will and courage to reach and agreement upon any new
law.
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| Book Reviews |
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