Change in Patent Law May Create "Blue" Gene Sequencers

Companies doing heavy-duty genetic research have sought to gain exclusive commercial rights to their work through patents. But patents in genes have proven controversial, prompting an op-ed from Michael Crighton in The New York Times and a vigorous online debate. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Cal.) has even introduced a federal bill, the "Genomic Research and Accessibility Act," which would remove all patent protection for a "nucleotide sequence, or its functions or correlations, or the naturally occurring products it specifies." As IP Law & Business reports, genetic researchers and their lobbyists are opposing the bill in Congress, and most experts believe the bill stands very little chance of passage.

Duke Prosecutor Now Facing Prosecution Himself

North Carolina District Attorney Mike Nifong was already in trouble. The Durham D.A. had brought rape and kidnapping charges against three Duke lacrosse players – charges that he later dropped for a lack of evidence. But now it turns out that Nifong may have withheld exculpatory DNA evidence showing that the three students could not have committed the crime – and the state bar has accused him of intentionally withholding the evidence. As Slate points out, Nifong faces disbarment for a breach of legal ethics rules, as well as a possible investigation by the Department of Justice and even criminal liability.

Fastcase Research Tip: Client-Matter Research Folders

Fastcase is always looking for ways to help you customize your research. One way that many lawyers do this is to save favorite searches or favorite cases as "Favorites" in Internet Explorer (or "Bookmarks" in other browsers). Because every page on Fastcase has a unique web address, you can save any page as a favorite (CTRL+D on Explorer and Firefox), and when you next log into Fastcase, you can call up the exact same page. For bonus points, you can create a Fastcase folder in Favorites, then create subfolders for each client, and even sub-subfolders for each separate matter. You can save pertinent cases, or even really good results lists – one more way to customize your research history on Fastcase!

The Court of Public Video

Social litigation rarely happens in a vacuum – it occurs in the legal and social context of its times. Increasingly human rights litigators are taking their cases and causes not just to trial courts, but also to courts of public opinion on sites such as YouTube, in an effort to shape the social context along with the legal arguments. A case in point of this new media landscape is Adel Hamad, a 48-year-old Sudanese elementary-school teacher imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for five years without any charges being filed against him. Recognizing that they may not get a court hearing, his lawyers created a movie about him and posted it on YouTube to bring his cause to light. You can read more about the phenomenon in this article on Slate , or watch the film Guantanamo Unclassified via this link to YouTube. This concept has not gone unnoticed in the academic world: Harvard Law School is now teaching creative problem solving as part of its first-year curriculum.