The Rogers News

Tag: law school

  • Fun IP Exam

    Prof Fields:

    You can bring you’re mother to the exam if she’s not a patent attorney.

  • What About the Kid?

    I’m reviewing for my Constitutional Law final and I’ve just gotten to Personal Liberties: Abortion under the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

    Specifically, I’m briefing Roe v. Wade, which for the handful of people who don’t know, is a case concerning whether a Texas law that banned abortion under almost all circumstances was constitutional. The Court held that the law impinged on the woman’s right to privacy as a fundamental right.

    That’s all old news. I’m just wondering who Roe’s kid is and how he/she feels about not only almost being aborted, but also about being the outcome of such a landmark case.

  • China: Cleaning Their Internet

    CNN reports (link):

    Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday launched a campaign to rid the country’s sprawling Internet of “unhealthy” content and make it a springboard for Communist Party doctrine…

    I will be studying intellectual property in China over the summer. The idea of censoring the content so that it better conforms with a doctrine seems to run against the principles of free thought, imagination, and entrepreneurship that I regularly associate with cutting edge technology.

    I’m beginning to think I have big issues with such an approach. However, I’m keeping an open mind as to the possibilities and hope to be surprised when I’m actually there.

  • Party Walls

    In England a long time ago someone important decided that the buildings should be made of brick and mortar instead of wood. In order to support the increased weight of the upper floors, wider walls were needed. To avoid significant loss of square footage on the lower lever because of thicker walls, “party walls” shared by neighbors were erected. Each neighbor had a duty to maintain the wall and to refrain from damaging the integrity of the “party wall.”

    New England’s adoption of the “party walls” approach to fences and other such developments between property owners was the inspiration for Robert Frost’s poem, “Mending Wall,” which ends with, “Good fences make good neighbors.” (link)

  • Applying for a Mortgage

    Interesting tidbit from Property Law, which may be obvious to home-owners. (I don’t own a home.)

    Often we hear people say they have a mortgage, or they’re going to get a mortgage. But, they actually give a mortgage as collateral to get a loan.

    Definition:

    A charging of real property by a debtor to a creditor as a security for a debt (esp. one incurred by the purchase of property), on the condition that it shall be returned on payment of the debt within a certain period.

    I just saw in the news that mortgage applications have fallen for the fifth week in a row.

  • Content-Neutral Ban on Billboards

    Sao Paulo recently banned all billboards from its city limits. (Pictures with billboards)(Pictures without billboards) Although the city is in Brazil and not the United States, it highlights an interesting point in my Constitutional Law reading. A “state” may place a content-neutral ban on an entire medium if:

    1. The state interests are sufficiently significant,
    2. The interests do not suppress the freedom of expression,
    3. The law is narrowly tailored, and
    4. There are viable alternatives available.

    The United States Supreme Court has stated:

    A majority of this Court found [in Metromedia] that [aesthetic] considerations would be sufficient to justify a content-neutral ban on all outdoor advertising signs, notwithstanding the extent to which such signs convey First Amendment protected messages. Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co., 486 U.S. 750, 783 (1988) (White, J., dissenting)(citing the plurality opinion and the dissenting opinions of Burger, C.J. and Rehnquist and Stevens, JJ.)

    In Sao Paulo’s case, they are seeking to clean up the aesthetics of the city and are not targeting a specific type of billboard ad, but all billboard ads. The fact that an entire medium of communication is being banned could be seen as a content-based interest, however there are likely equally viable options to advertise other than billboards.

  • Indentured Deed

    Here is an interesting excerpt from my property text book that reminded me of those heart shaped best-friends-forever necklaces that split into two pieces.

    In the days before typewriters and carbon paper, and centuries before Xerox, lawyers were faced with the problem of providing duplicate copies of deeds in certain instances when both the grantor and grantee wanted a copy (for example, in case of a mortgage). They found the solution in an indenture. The deed was written out twice on a single sheet of parchment (usually made from sheepskin stretched, scraped, and scoured) and signed at the end of each copy by both grantor and grantee. The parchment was then cut into two pieces in an irregular line, leaving a sawtooth or indented edge. The two halves, forming two separate deeds, one for the grantor and one for the grantee, could be fitted together to show their genuineness.