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The article discusses confidentiality in patent royalty arbitration, particularly in fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) royalty disputes in multiple jurisdictions. Other topics include the consideration of competition law, the confidentiality of arbitration, the possible antitrust liability of confidentiality agreements, and the independence of arbitration agreements from confidentiality agreements.

Chance in Biology: Using Probability to Explore Nature. Mark W. Denny and Steven Gaines. xiv + 291 pp. Princeton University Press, 2000. $39.50. As a colleague of mine who teaches [...]

INTRODUCTION Bias in privately funded scientific research has been much in the news recently.(1) Research bias causes problems in various contexts, from medical decisionmaking(2) to regulatory evaluations, (3) but the [...]

The article presents information on patent law and the uncertainties associated with intellectual property rights. It discusses the role played by uncertainty in cases involving reverse payment settlements, patent portfolios and package licensing. It states that patent law gives patentees the right to use and sell their inventions but provides no information regarding validity and existence. It explains patent validity and commercial value of patents significant in patent litigation.

Intellectual property owners often seek to provide access to their patented or copyrighted works while at the same time imposing restrictions on that access. One example of this approach is "field-of-use" licensing in patent law, which permits licensees to use the patented invention but only in certain ways. Another example is open-source licensing in copyright law, where copyright owners typically require licensees that incorporate open-source software in other products to license those other products on an open-source basis as well. Surprisingly, though, the legal requirements for granting restricted access are unclear. The source of this lack of clarity is the ill-defined nature of a "license," which is the usual means of granting access to intellectual property. Must a license be a contract? If so, then the imposition of restrictions presumably must satisfy the rules of contract formation. Or could a license be merely a unilateral commitment to allow limited access to intellectual property, as many open-source advocates contend? If so, then an intellectual property owner could grant access to its property while imposing restrictions to which a licensee has not consented, and of which the licensee might not even be aware. This Article argues that the weight of judicial authority and sound policy support a contractual approach. A requirement that license restrictions be imposed only by contract ensures that intellectual property owners obtain both the consent of licensees to the restrictions and consideration sufficient to make the contract enforceable. As in contract law more generally, these requirements facilitate certainty, predictability, and care in entering productive relationships. Consent is especially important as intellectual property is passed downstream through the distribution chain, because it ensures that downstream market participants are aware of the limitations on their use of intellectual property. Simple notice, which some have proposed as an alternative to contract, has shortcomings that make it a poor criterion for the establishment of infringement liability. This Article suggests, though, that in some circumstances notice of an upstream violation of a contractual license should indeed be sufficient to establish liability. Specifically, when a downstream user intentionally induces infringement by an upstream supplier, the downstream user should be liable. In such circumstances, the intent element serves as a substitute for the assent of contract law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the inherent inefficiency of jet propulsion, squid are considered to be at a competitive disadvantage compared with fishes, which generally depend on forms of undulatory/oscillatory locomotion. Some squid, such as the brief squid Lolliguncula brevis, swim at low speeds in shallow-water complex environments, relying heavily on fin activity. Consequently, their swimming costs may be lower than those of the faster, more pelagic squid studied previously and competitive with those of ecologically relevant fishes. To examine aerobic respiratory swimming costs, O[sub 2] consumption rates were measured for L. brevis of various sizes (2-9 cm dorsal mantle length, DML) swimming over a range of speeds (3-30 cm s[sup -1]) in swim tunnel respirometers, while their behavior was videotaped. Using kinematic data from swimming squid and force data from models, power curves were also generated. Many squid demonstrated partial (J-shaped) or full (U-shaped) parabolic patterns of O[sub 2] consumption rate as a function of swimming speed, with O[sub 2] consumption minima at 0.5-1.5 DML s[sup −1]. Power curves derived from hydrodynamic data plotted as a function of swimming speed were also parabolic, with power minima at 1.2-1.7 DML s[sup -1]. The parabolic relationship between O[sub 2] consumption rate/power and speed, which is also found in aerial flyers such as birds, bats and insects but rarely in aquatic swimmers because of the difficulties associated with low-speed respirometry, is the result of the high cost of generating lift and maintaining stability at low speeds and overcoming drag at high speeds. L. brevis has a lower rate of O[sub 2] consumption than the squid Illex illecebrosus and Loligo opalescens studied in swim tunnel respirometers and is energetically competitive (especially at O[sub 2] consumption minima) with fishes, such as striped bass, mullet and flounder. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that, like aerial flyers, some negati... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biology and the Mechanics of the Wave-Swept Environment Studies of organisms living in wave-swept environments such as the rocky intertidal and coral reefs have held a central position in the [...]

Coral diseases are a leading factor contributing to the global decline of coral reefs, and yet mechanisms of disease transmission remain poorly understood. This study tested whether zooplankton can act as a vector for white band disease (WBD) in Acropora cervicornis . Natural zooplankton communities were collected from a coral reef in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Half of the zooplankton were treated with antibiotics for 24 h after which the antibiotic-treated and non-antibiotic-treated zooplankton were incubated with either seawater or tissue homogenates from corals exhibiting WBD-like symptoms. A total of 15 of the 30 asymptomatic A. cervicornis colonies exposed to zooplankton incubated in disease homogenate in tank-based experiments showed signs of WBD, regardless of prior antibiotic incubation. These results indicate that in our experimental conditions zooplankton were a vector for coral disease after exposure to disease-causing pathogens. Given the importance of heterotrophy on zooplankton to coral nutrition, this potential mode of disease transmission warrants further investigation., Competing Interests: The authors declare there are no competing interests.