Smartphones
Pear Therapeutics’ FDA Approved App Changes the Game in Healthcare
On occasion, regulatory approval announcements in healthcare rise above the din and make headlines. Few have done so with the impact of Pear Therapeutics’ reSET, a treatment for substance addiction, which is so significant because it is neither a drug nor a therapeutic medical device, in the traditional sense: it’s an app that runs on […]
The Price for Pokemon - How Much Are Childhood Icons Worth Protecting?
The Value of the Pokémon Franchise If you were born in the late 1980s or early 90s or have young children, you have probably encountered a red-cheeked mouse called Pikachu or any of the hundreds of other Pokémon that exist in the Pokémon media franchise. While the premise of catching colourful creatures is rather straightforward, […]
Pokémon Go: Augmenting Legal Reality
Even in 2016, it is tempting to treat the Internet as separate from the bricks-and-mortar world. As much as we might like to keep them apart, Augmented Reality apps like Pokémon Go will force the interaction between technology and more traditional areas of law.
4th Circuit Appeals Court Rules No Warrant Needed for Suspects’ Cell-Site Location Data
The re-posting of this article is part of a cross-posting collaboration with MediaLaws: Law and Policy of the Media in a Comparative Perspective. On May 31, the U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit, in a 12-3 decision ruled that a warrant is not needed to obtain suspects’ cell-site location information held by carriers, meaning that a court […]
Wearable Technology: The Legal Implications of Data Collection
The wearable tech market has quickly become a significant global industry and the market appears ripe for future growth. Some sources predict that the global retail revenue from smart wearable devices will reach the $53 billion mark by 2019, largely driven by an increase in sales of premium smart watches and smart glasses over the next […]
US Supreme Court Dials up Privacy Rights of Cell Phones During Arrest
Courts and privacy advocates across North America have long faced challenges in resolving the questions of whether police officers should be given the right to search the contents of cellphones of an arrestee and if yes, when and under what circumstances this should be permitted. The Supreme Court of the United States has taken the […]
MedEdge 2014 -- New Medical Innovations Bring Privacy Dangers
The 2014 MedEdge Summit was a resounding success. Academics, innovators, entrepreneurs, and practitioners filled the auditorium and networking booths. As one of the lucky attendees, I zoomed in on Dr. Cafazzo’s talk about the significant lack of human use considerations (“reverse human engineering”) in the design of traditional medical products, and the introduction of new […]
No Autocorrect for Apple and Samsung in their Patent Wars
The seemingly never ending saga between Apple and Samsung that began in 2011 has seen another day (month) in court. On the surface this may seem like another sweeping victory for Apple, but the war isn't over and that might be what really matters.
I Heart... Everything? Google Patents Heart Gesture to Indicate Importance on Social Networks
On a crisp fall day, you notice the perfect maple leaf lying on the pavement. You know that you have to share this with the world, but how will you let others know how great this leaf is? After all, this leaf is awesome. In the near future, simply joining your hands in a heart […]