When Style Becomes Substance

By: Alyson Yi | February 6, 2026

Introduction In the United States, courts have commonly rejected arguments to protect an artist’s “style” under copyright law.  This treatment stems from the idea-expression distinction, which provides copyright protection for fixed expressions, but not abstract ideas. The copyright law regime treats style as an unprotectable idea. This means that multiple people may paint a tree […]

Protection v. Play: The Paradox of Video Game Mechanic Patents

By: Tolulope Owokoniran | February 6, 2026

Introduction Patent law was created to incentivize innovation by granting inventors limited monopolies in exchange for public disclosure of their discoveries. In theory, this should promote competition and technological progress. In practice, however, patent law has paradoxically become a barrier to creativity in the video game industry. In recent years, there has been a trend […]

Beyond the Classroom: The Legal and Ethical Implications of Gaggle’s 24/7 Student Surveillance

By: CJ Cai | February 6, 2026

Over the past decade, schools across the United States have increasingly turned to digital surveillance technologies to monitor students’ online behavior in the name of safety. Among these technologies, Gaggle has emerged as one of the most widely adopted platforms, serving more than 5.8 million students at over 1,500 school districts across the United States. […]

Beyond the Boilerplate: Key Players in AI Contract Drafting 

By: Audrey Zhang Yang | May 11, 2025

Introduction The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) contract drafting software marks a pivotal moment in legal technology, where theoretical possibilities are transforming into market realities. As vendors compete to deliver increasingly sophisticated solutions, understanding the current state of this market becomes crucial for legal practitioners making strategic technology decisions. The landscape is particularly dynamic, with […]

The P in PTAB Does Not Stand for Preclusion: Interactions Between PTAB Rulings and Collateral Estoppel in Article III Courts.

By: Keegan Sullivan | May 11, 2025

A. Introduction The dipartite structure of the American patent system, comprising the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the federal Article III court system, leads to interesting interactions between rulings made in each of the distinct subsystems. This is especially relevant to the patent system in the context of claim construction. Moreover, because the Federal […]

Algorithmic Bias in AI Employment Decisions

By: Zara Siddiqui | January 30, 2025

Introduction  Algorithmic bias is AI’s Achilles heel, revealing how machines are only as unbiased as the humans behind them.  The most prevalent real-world stage for human versus machine bias is the job search process. What started out as newspaper ads and flyers at local coffee shops, is now a completely digital process with click-through ads, […]

Copyright Issues Raised by the Technology of Deepfakes

By: Li Guan | January 30, 2025

Trending Uses of Deepfakes Deepfake technology, leveraging sophisticated artificial intelligence, is rapidly reshaping the entertainment industry by enabling the creation of hyper-realistic video and audio content. This technology can convincingly depict well-known personalities saying or doing things they never actually did, creating entirely new content that did not really occur. The revived Star Wars franchise […]

Eager to Know The Impacts of LKQ? Just Wait and See

By: Mark Elinski | January 30, 2025

I. INTRODUCTION In May of 2024, the Federal Circuit overruled 40 years of precedent for assessing the obviousness of design patents in LKQ Corp. v. GM Global Technology Operations LLC. Already, commentators and practitioners have a wide array of opinions about the impacts of LKQ. If recent history is any guide, however, declarative statements about the impacts […]

Virtual Reality as a Medium for Evidence: Speculated vs. Realized Benefits and Harms

By: Charles Korey | January 30, 2025

Proponents of virtual reality (VR) as a medium for evidence in the courtroom have argued that it can bring many benefits to jurors, including enhanced empathy and better factual understanding. However, it is also speculated that VR could increase a juror’s biases or a false sense of accuracy. As VR technology advances, the legal field faces the challenge […]

Main Squeeze: The Potential for Trade Dress Protection of a Squeezable Olive Oil

By: Esme Trontz | March 4, 2024

In April 2023, drama unfolded on Twitter, and it revolved around olive oil. Andrew Benin, the co-founder of Graza, a start-up single-origin olive oil brand that comes in two adorable green squeeze bottles, publicly called out rival Brightland for allegedly copying his squeezable olive oil idea. Mr. Benin wrote, “While friendly competition was always welcome, […]

Better Call Saul Runs into Legal Trouble: How Liberty Tax Service Could Have Won Their Trademark Infringement Case 

By: Sam Scialabba | February 15, 2024

INTRODUCTION  Every day across the world many people, brands, and companies believe that their names are defamed, or trademarks have been infringed on. With over 440,000 US Trademark Applications filed in 2022 alone, disputes over these trademarks arise frequently. However, these quarrels are not always encircling such a large-scale platform like one of the highest […]

Fake it ‘til You Make Law: The AI Identity Crisis 

By: Alexis Kang | February 15, 2024

The advent of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deepfake technology marks a new era in intellectual property law, presenting unprecedented challenges and opportunities. As these technologies evolve, their creations blur the lines between reality and fiction, escalating the risk of consumer deception and diluting brand values. Deepfakes, a fusion of the words ‘deep learning’ and […]