Intellectual Property Law

The Day The Endangered Species Act Died

Posted on May 08, 2009
The Obama Administration announced today, through Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, that it would not break with the Bush II Administration's policy of abandoning the Polar Bear to its fate. Despite both the clear intent and letter of the Endangered Species Act to contrary, Secretary Salazar stated that "The Endangered Species Act is not the appropriate tool for us to deal with what is a global issue, and that is the issue of global warming"...

Sustainably Cloned Cows

Posted on March 29, 2009
I don't get it. When I saw the ad in which Cyclone Dairy touting its milk from cloned cows, I naturally clicked through to the website. I expected either a clever parody, ala The Onion, or an anti-GMO rant in cow's clothing. I was very disappointed.If the site aspires to parody or rant, it fails on both counts...

Perpetuating science illiteracy

Posted on March 22, 2009
Now that my own family has solidly entered the world of coloring books and dinosaur p.j.s, this particular combination of dinosaurs and coloring books struck a raw nerve. I am not convinced it is real (seems too absurd, even for young earthers) but the image and text certainly capture the level of science illiteracy fostered by evolution denial...

Better REDD than Dead: Biodiversity in the Climate Regime

Posted on March 13, 2009
What is the best opportunity to secure effective international legal protection for biodiversity in the near term? It does not currently seem to be proceedings under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Nor is it likely to lie under international efforts aimed exclusively at habitat protection, such as the UN Forum on Forests...

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Endangered Species Act: Consultation Rules Restored

Posted on March 03, 2009

Darwin's beautiful mind, still not fully appreciated

Posted on February 09, 2009
George Richmond, Charles Darwin (1840)Nicholas Wade's reflections on Charles Darwin upon the bicentennial of his birth and the sesquicentennial of The Origin of Species resonate strongly. It is often said that progress in a science is measured by the speed with which its founders are forgotten...

Darwin Or Lose?

Posted on February 06, 2009
Although it may be illegal to teach creationism (whether or not covertly repackaged under names like "intelligent design") as science in public schools in the United States, it appears that most Americans still doubt the truth of Darwin's theory of evolution...

Zealous Advocacy For Biodiversity

Posted on January 17, 2009
On our final day, the highlight was meeting with local attorney, Jeff Weiss, who opened the class' eyes to the challenges, complications, and successes of litigating on behalf of biodiversity. My class describes our discussion:After lecture this morning, we went to Estate Nazareth to speak with Jeff Weiss, a well-respected attorney popularly known as the ?Bulldog? for his tenacity...

Humpback Whalesongs

Posted on January 17, 2009
Steve Prosterman, who runs the diving program at the University of the Virgin Islands, escorted us out into the wide Caribbean Sea, where he showed us fabulous endangered Elkhorn and Staghorn Coral, and introduced us to the haunting calls of the Humpback Whale...

Donkeys, Mongeese, And Rats, Oh My!

Posted on January 17, 2009
The class woke up early this morning, jumped in the Deep Thinker (a fast catamaran), and headed across the Virgin Islands Channel to the British Virgin Islands. As the students explain,We started the day with a trip to the British Virgin Islands ("BVI") to meet up with Susan Zaluski, who directs the recently-founded Jost Van Dyke Preservation Society...

Saving Rainforest On Saint John

Posted on January 14, 2009
Day three of Biodiversity Law began early, checking a live-trapline for Cuban Tree Frogs. Then, we popped over to the island of Saint John to see a huge newly-preserved swatch of rainforest near Maho Bay. The students explain:We woke up extra early today to meet Renata Platenberg at the top of the trailhead at Magen's Bay to hike down to Magen's Bay Beach...

Coral Reef Law 101

Posted on January 14, 2009
The second day of Biodiversity Law centered on a day-long visit to Botany Bay, one of the last large tracts of (mostly) undeveloped land on Saint Thomas. The students report:First we went to the Botany Bay Estates, a large parcel of privately-owned land closed to the public...

First Day In Paradise

Posted on January 12, 2009
KU Law School's Biodiversity Law class arrived in the Virgin Islands late last night. The first day of the fieldtrip was a revelation to the students. Here is their first nightly eyewitness report:We awoke to a breathtaking view of Saint Thomas and the Caribbean Sea, probably one of the most spectacular views in the Virgin Islands...

A Definition Of Biolaw

Posted on January 09, 2009
In an attempt to have "Biolaw" officially recognized as a "Section" by the American Association of Law Schools ("AALS"), June Carbone, Chris Holman, and I circulated a petition yesterday at the AALS Annual Meetings, in San Diego, to collect signatures in support of a Biolaw Section...

Outrageous advice for female lawyers

Posted on January 07, 2009
I posted earlier about this on Intlawgrrls, but am so offended that I felt the need to repost here. I am amazed that this story has gotten so little coverage. where is the outrage? According to the Daily Mail, and Marie Claire, the law firm of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has been advising its female associates to "embrace their femininity" by wearing stilettos and skirts to work...

AALS Biolaw Section

Posted on January 06, 2009
I thought I would share with the wider Biolaw community an initiative that several of us are taking at the American Association of Law Schools ("AALS"): to have "Biolaw" officially recognized as a "Section", like Intellectual Property and Cyberlaw. Here is the e-mail invitation we sent law professors attending the annual AALS meetings in San Diego:Biolaw Folks,June Carbone, Chris Holman, and I have organized a "Biolaw" panel at this year's annual AALS meetings that we hope you will all attend...

NPR - The New Frontier Of Biolaw

Posted on December 09, 2008
Award-winning NPR health journalist, Bryan Thompson, attended the first day of Biolaw 2.0: Law at the Frontiers of Biology, the second annual Biolaw Conference, held last month at the University of Kansas School of Law. Among others, Biolaw contributors Jim Chen, Rebecca Bratspies, and I spoke...

The Proposed ESA Consultation Regulations

Posted on November 25, 2008
In August, the Fish & Wildlife Service, along with the National Marine Fisheries Service ("the Services"), proposed a rule amending the Endangered Species Act consultation regulations. As one of several proposed changes to environmental regulations before the end of the Bush administration, this proposed rule seeks to redefine the circumstances in which federal agencies must consult with the Services to determine whether a proposed federal agency action would jeopardize threatened or endangered species...

Winter v NRDC

Posted on November 17, 2008
Without digging too deeply into this case, here are a few thoughts:Why does the Court take a case like this? The case concerns, at its base, the issue whether the Navy must complete an environmental impact statement under NEPA before undertaking certain training exercises...

Biolaw 2.0 Conference - Law at the Frontiers of Biology

Posted on November 04, 2008
On November 13th and 14th, 2008, Biolaw 2.0 - Law at the Frontiers of Biology will take place at the University of Kansas School of Law. As the 2.0 suggests, this is the second annual Biolaw Conference. The Biolaw Conference website can be found here...

Stimulate Green Energy

Posted on October 19, 2008
"[W]hen we eat from the industrial-food system, we are eating oil and spewing greenhouse gases," writes Michael Pollen in the lead article of the New York Times' food issue. Rising food prices, he argues, cannot be addressed until we address core features of our food production...

Strobe Lights The Way

Posted on October 15, 2008
Last night I attended the 2008 International Relations Council annual awards banquet in Kansas City. Strobe Talbot received the award for international statesmanship. He then went on to deliver a speech that began with Socrates' concept of world citizenship and ended with global climate change...

A free hiking guide

Posted on October 13, 2008
Yes, this is an advertisement for a one-year subscription to Backpacker magazine. But it comes with a nice, free offer: a 48-page .pdf file providing nice information on some of the country's best hiking opportunities.Happy trails to BioLaw's readers.

Candidates on the ESA: Obama

Posted on October 03, 2008
There are several recent comparisons of the candidates on environmental issues. For example, Michael Gerrard authored a recent ABA Natural Resources & Environment piece on the presidential candidates' stance on environmental issues. The online environmental news magazine Grist has a comparison of their farm & food policies...

Candidates on the ESA: McCain

Posted on September 19, 2008
We have been hearing constantly updated versions of the presidential candidates' positions on the economy, but what are their positions on ecosystems and the species that depend on them?John McCain stood out among Republican primary candidates for the simple assertion that he believes in evolution, but how far does that understanding take him toward preservation of species? As portrayed in a recent High Country News article, McCain's early career in the Senate included some striking support of environmental goals -- such as protection of more than 200 million acres of Arizona wilderness...

one more reason to worry

Posted on September 10, 2008
It amazes me that recent news about the accelerating melting of arctic ice doesn't seem to be causing nearly the public uproar one might expect. Well, here is a new wakeup call. A melting arctic might not only raise sea level, change global climate patterns, and doom vast swaths of flora and fauna...

Beyond The Palin

Posted on September 01, 2008
John McCain has distinguished himself from many Republicans, and a good many Democrats, by adopting a number of political positions grounded more in science than in popularity. Among these are his early recognition that global climate change is most likely anthropogenic in origin, his opposition to oil drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ("ANWR"), and his support for evolution and embryonic stem cell ("ESC") research...

VICTORY: EPA to Reopen Libraries

Posted on July 31, 2008
After much sturm and drang, including a scathing GAO report, withering criticism from Congress, the public (including yours truly) and objections from its own employees, EPA recently inked an MOA with the American Federation of Government Employees to reopen all the libraries EPA shuttered in 2006...

A Crash Course in Intellectual Property

Posted on July 27, 2008
In my professional life, I deal with intellectual property questions on a routine basis. As a property professor, and a biolaw scholar, patent (and sometimes copyright) issues are my bread and butter. But, recent events in my life have reminded me just how much there is that I don't know...

Affymetrix's Wings Gets SNPed

Posted on July 23, 2008
Sometimes a single nucleotide variant among the thousands that make up a typical gene can indicate significant abnormality in a patient. These needles in genomic haystacks, called "Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms", or "SNPs", can be not only medically useful, but quite lucrative to medical diagnostic companies as well...

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