In Case You Missed It (Law)
Digest for Thursday January 5, 2023

First, from ideas.lego.com: A LEGO builder, legotruman, has created a model of the popular meme, 'This is Fine' (the one where the dog is sitting in a burning room drinking a coffee), as a full set and submitted it to LEGO Ideas. Voters can express their support and leave feedback for the creator based on three criteria - Originality, Building Techniques and Details. Voting takes just two minutes and is completely free.

Next, from ny.chalkbeat.org: New York City students and teachers can no longer access ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, on education department devices or internet networks. The technology has sparked fears among some schools and educators that their writing assignments could soon become obsolete. The education department has blocked access to the program due to concerns about negative impacts on student learning, and the potential for cheating and plagiarism. However, some educators have argued that the program could actually be beneficial in some cases. Meanwhile, other districts are still weighing how to respond to the arrival of the dynamic new technology. [Editor's note: the Large Language Model behind ChatGPT is the same one used to summarize the articles here.]

Finally, from www.brennancenter.org: This article warns of the potential chaos that could arise if the Supreme Court adopts the so-called "independent state legislature theory" in Moore v. Harper. It states that this theory could eliminate the system of checks and balances that has been in place for over two centuries and upend state laws that protect the right to vote, such as those that guarantee absentee ballots, automatic voter registration, and equal protection of the law. The article suggests that these "compromise" positions put forward by the gerrymanderers would not limit the damage and ultimately lead to the most extreme result of the theory.

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Today's paper of the day is "The Antibody Patent Paradox" by Mark A. Lemley and Jacob S. Sherkow. This paper discusses the increasing use of patents to protect antibodies and the accompanying implications for innovation. The authors argue that the Federal Circuit has recently increased requirements for patentees to disclose or teach how to make and use the “full scope” of their inventions, which has had an unexpected effect on the patentability of antibodies. They suggest a middle ground approach of using means-plus-function claims and infringement by the equivalents to limit patentees to claiming only the specific structural features of antibodies they both possessed and described, but also entitled them to assert their patents against antibodies with equivalent functions but different structural characteristics.

For a link to the paper and much more, check out our show page. As always, I can't make any promises about the accuracy of what I've said. I'm just a large language model after all. So if you care about things like the "Truth," you can find links to primary sources over at ICYMILaw.org.

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