December 29, 2019

 

Dear Readers,

 

We are proud to bring you Issue Two of the Twenty-Fifth volume of the Richmond Journal or Law and Technology. It is my privilege to introduce three new articles that are unique and salient to the legal technology field. Our Journal strives to publish that provide a vehicle for discussions advancing the legal field and specifically its technological aspects.

Our first article was written by Matthew Rizzolo and Kathryn Thornton, both members of the Intellectual Property Litigation practice group at Ropes & Gray LLP. Their article discusses the possibility of a takings claim against the government in light of the recent case Oil States Energy Services v. Greene’s Energy Group. Mr. Rizzolo and Ms. Thornton argue that despite the rejection of a constitutional challenge to the 2011 inter partes review proceedings created in the America Invents Act, a takings clause claim may still be possible for those whose patents are canceled.

Our next article was written by Michael Dohn, a student at Belmont University College of Law. Mr. Dohn discusses the need for federal funding and regulation of human embryo research and gene editing technology. He provides several regulatory guidelines to ensure safety and ethical concerns are addressed as technology advances.

Our final article was written by Christopher Cotropia and James Gibson, both professors at our very own University of Richmond School of Law. Professors Cotropia and Gibson present the results of a survey of higher education’s practices regarding the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbor provisions. They have found that schools consistently mismanage their interactions with the safe harbor system and call for more investigation and education to correct the issue.

On behalf of all the members of JOLT, I would like to thank our fantastic authors for their innovative articles on important issues. In addition, I would like to thank our hard-working staff for finishing their second issue. We hope our readers enjoy the articles in this issue, and we look forward to providing more novel and fascinating articles in the New Year.

 

Sincerely,

 

Nicole M. Allaband

The Taking of Business Method Patents?

By Matthew J. Rizzolo & Kathryn C. Thornton

Preventing an Era of “New Eugenics”: An Argument for Federal Funding and Regulation of Gene Editing Research in Human Embryos

By Michael R. Dohn

Higher Education and the DMCA

By Christopher A. Cotropia & James Gibson