Intellectual Property News
January - June 1999
House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Database Bill. (6/16/99) The House Telecommunications Subcommittee held a hearing on Tuesday morning, June 15, on HR 1858, and database protection generally. The House Judiciary Committee last month approved a competing bill, HR 354.
House Committees Vie for High Tech Leadership. (6/16/99) There is a turf war in the House of Representatives between the House Commerce Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, and especially between their Telecommunications and Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittees. The most recent battle is over database protection legislation, but the conflict extends into many other high-tech topics. The two sides perceive their missions quite differently, and respond to different constituencies. Hence, these turf contests will have profound consequences for high-tech policy.
Bliley Introduces Database Bill. (5/23/99) Rep. Tom Bliley introduced the Consumer and Investor Access to Information Act on May 19, 1999. In contrast to Rep. Howard Coble's bill, Rep. Bliley's bill would provide only limited protections for the developers and owners and databases. See HR 1858 IH.
House Panel Investigates DOJ Failure to Enforce NET Act. (5/13/99) The House Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee held a hearing on Wednesday, May 12, on why the Department of Justice has yet to obtain one indictment under the No Electronic Theft Act. The law, which was passed to deter Internet piracy, has been on the books for a year and a half.
Rogan Introduces Bill to Increase Damages for Copyright Infringement. (5/13/99) Rep. James Rogan introduced the Copyright Damages Improvement Act on May 11, 1999. The bill would increase the statutory damages available for copyright infringement, and serve as an increased deterrent against copyright violation. See, HR 1761 IH.
House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Trademark Amendments Bill. (5/5/99) The House Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee held a hearing on Wednesday afternoon, May 5, on HR 1565, the Trademark Amendments Act of 1999. See, HR 1565 IH and Rep. Hyde's Bill Summary.
U.S. Trade Rep Announces 'Special 301' Designations. (5/1/99) The U.S. Trade Representative announced on Friday afternoon, April 30, its annual "Special 301" designations, identifying foreign countries which fail to protect intellectual property rights. See, USTR Statement and USTR Special 301 Annual Review (94 KB).
Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Software Piracy. (5/1/99) The International Economic Policy Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Thursday, May 29 on the effect of global software piracy, and what the U.S. government is doing about it.
PTO Unveils Patent & Trademark Database on Internet. (4/22/99) The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office unveiled an Internet database containing text and images of more than two million patents and over one million registered and pending trademarks. The URL for the PTO's database is http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html
House Committee Holds Hearing on Patent Reform. (3/29/99) The House Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee began its consideration of patent reform legislation in a hearing on Thursday, March 25, 1999. In the last Congress the House, but not the Senate, passed a sweeping patent reform bill.
House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Database Bill. (3/19/99) The House Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee held a hearing on HR 354, the Collections of Information Antipiracy Act, on Thursday, March 18. A similar bill passed the House, but not the Senate, in the 105th Congress. See, copy of HR 354 IH.
Judge "Clarifies" Preliminary Injunction in Java Suit. (2/21/99) U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte issued an order on Friday, February 19 clarifying his preliminary injunction order of November 17, 1998 in Sun Microsystems' Java suit against Microsoft. See, copy of order.
IIPA Submits Special 301 Copyright Piracy Recommendations to Trade Rep. (2/18/99) The International Intellectual Property Alliance submitted its 'Special 301' recommendations to U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky on Tuesday, February 16. The filing, which addresses international copyright piracy, recommends that Israel be designated as a Priority Foreign Country under Special 301.
BSA Announces Agenda for 106th Congress. (2/8/99) The Business Software Alliance held a press conference in Washington DC on Thursday, February 4, to announce its policy agenda for the 106th Congress. Its leading issues are copyright protection and encryption rights. Other priorities include Y2K litigation reform, patent reform, digital signatures and authentication, extension of the R&D tax credit, privacy, and generally, freedom from government regulation.
Rep. Coble Reintroduces Database Protection Bill. (1/22/99) Rep. Howard Coble re-introduced the "Collections of Information Antipiracy Act" on January 19, 1999. The bill, which would protect databases from piracy, passed the House, but not the Senate, in the just ended 105th Congress. See, HR 354 IH.
Pouliot Named Chairman of Business Software Alliance. (1/20/99) The Business Software Alliance named Colleen Pouliot, SVP and General Counsel of Adobe, it new Chairman of the Board of Directors. The BSA plans to push for legislation on encryption rights, Year 2000 liability reform, and the research and development tax credit.
Law Professors Challenge Copyright Laws. (1/17/99) A group of Harvard Law School professors filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington DC on January 11 challenging the constitutionality of the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), and seeking an injunction of enforcement of the No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act) against violators of the CTEA. See, Complaint.
Microsoft Files Appeal Brief in Java Suit. (1/17/99) Microsoft filed its appeal brief in its suit with Sun Microsystems on January 13, 1999. Sun sued Microsoft in late 1997 alleging that Microsoft has violated its java licensing agreement. Microsoft is appealing the preliminary injunction issued by Judge Whyte last November. See, Appeal Brief.