Yearly Archives: 2015

COMPELLING PASSWORDS FROM THIRD PARTIES: WHY THE FOURTH AND FIFTH AMENDMENTS DO NOT ADEQUATELY PROTECT INDIVIDUALS WHEN THIRD PARTIES ARE FORCED TO HAND OVER PASSWORDS By: Sarah Wilson ABSTRACT In 2012, the FBI served a search warrant on Google when a suspect––a user of Google’s phone services––refused to answer any ...

Addressing intellectual property and technology issues including protection for passwords, privacy policies, judicial behavior of the Federal Circuit, software copyright, transnational intellectual property protection, and strict liability for copyright infringement.

BTLJ is proud to announce the winners of the 2015 Student Writing Competition.

Introduction When you file a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), the website openly warns you that “The trademark registration process is a legal proceeding that may be complex . . . Therefore, you should consider hiring an attorney before starting the process.” So it ...

The Berkeley Technology Law Journal (BTLJ) welcomes submissions on Patent Quality in parallel with the USPTO’s Request for Comments on Enhancing Patent Quality.

How should digital evidence be presented to juries? Should emoticons and other symbols be translated into words and read aloud by prosecutors and defense attorneys? As their popularity has grown with the advent of apps, such as Emoji, emoticons, have been figuring into litigation more and more frequently over the ...

On March 12, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released its order captioned In re Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet, (“Open Internet Order”). This order, one of the most important in the history of the Internet in the United States, reclassifies broadband Internet access services from an “information service” ...

In re Pandora is the most recent battle between Performing Rights Organizations (“PROs”) and an internet radio service to set rates for public performance rights. Pandora is one of the most popular internet radio streaming services in the U.S. Like any radio station, Pandora needs copyright licenses in order to ...

Commentators and historians have long recorded the regrettable moments of high-profiled individuals. However, it was not until recently that this kind of record was possible for the everyday person. Two attributes of Internet data made this possible: its permanence and its accessibility. In contrast with the limited distribution and narrow ...

The Berkeley Technology Law Journal is a student-run publication of the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley. We started in March 1985, published our first issue in Spring 1986, and have since covered emerging issues of law in the areas of intellectual property, high-tech and biotech. ...