Innovation Law and Tech News 6

Sherkow presents before New York Intellectual Property Law Association

In September, Professor Jacob Sherkow delivered a presentation on the legal aspects of DNA sequencing cases to the New York Intellectual Property Law Association. His presentation, titled “Trade Secrets Committee Meeting: Litigating DNA Trade Secrecy,” covered whether DNA sequences are protectable by trade secrecy and if recent advances in DNA sequencing technology might destroy trade secrecy protection for certain kinds data. He reviewed the technology in the field and cases focused on DNA trade secrecy as well as provided practical suggestions for litigating DNA trade secrecy cases.

Gerke brings CLASSICA research to Illinois Law

New faculty member Sara Gerke has an extensive background in research prior to her time at Illinois Law and she has brought her work on CLASSICA with her to Champaign. CLASSICA is an EU-funded project examining cancer classification via AI technology across several clinics, surgical teams, and countries. Professor Gerke is one of the heads of the study of the legal and ethical implications raised by AI-assisted surgery as part of the project.

Learn more about CLASSICA.

Sherkow publishes new paper on Myriad decision

An open book at the College of Law library

A decade on from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., Professor Jacob Sherkow argues that what seemed like a political and cultural phenomenon has had a much narrower impact. Writing as the first author in a new paper published in Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics, Sherkow explains how the Myriad decision has had a modest impact on patents, largely hidden by other developments in science and law since the case was decided.

Read the full paper online.

BioSpace quotes Sherkow on CRISPR patent dispute

Researchers work on lab projects with a syringe and vial.

The patent battle over CRISPR-Cas9 technology has gone on for longer than a decade, but continues to wind its way through the courts. The global CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing market size is expected to grow to $14.65 billion by 2032, and Professor Jacob Sherkow told BioSpace that companies seeking to license the technology may be content to wait and see how the patent battle settles rather than rushing to pay now. “If you get that wrong, that is a lot of money you set on fire,” Sherkow said.

Read the full article online.

STAT quotes Sherkow on pharmaceutical patents

The practice of using “patent thickets,” which allow pharmaceutical companies to delay low-cost generic medicines reaching the market, is being targeted by a rule change proposed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The change would reduce the number of terminal disclaimers, an important part of patent thickets, which offers the potential to speed the entry of generic drugs to the market, Professor Jacob Sherkow explained to STAT. He cautioned, however, that companies may still find clever ways to skirt the rules.

Read the full article from STAT.

Sherkow authors new article on DNA trade secrecy

Hallene Gateway at University of Illinois

Whether or not DNA sequences are subject to trade secrecy protections is the critical question examined by Professor Jacob Sherkow in his latest article, published in the Hastings Law Journal. Despite decades of scholarship assuming DNA sequences would be subject to protection, recent research has suggested this assumption was incorrect. Sherkow explores why DNA sequences might not be protected as well as the implications of this change.

Read the full article online.

Illinois Law welcomes five new faculty hires

The University of Illinois College of Law is thrilled to welcome five new faculty members to our roster this fall.

Sara Gerke joins Illinois as an Associate Professor of Law and Richard W. & Marie L. Corman Scholar. Her research focuses on the ethical and legal challenges of artificial intelligence and big data for health care and health law in the United States and Europe. She also researches comparative law and ethics of other issues at the cutting edge of medical developments, such as the clinical translation of stem cell research, biological products, such as somatic cells, tissues, and gene therapy, reproductive medicine, such as mitochondrial replacement techniques, and digital health more generally. Professor Gerke has over 60 publications in health law and bioethics, and her work has appeared in leading law, medical, scientific, and bioethics journals. Professor Gerke earned a JD from University of Augsburg and an MA from King’s College London.

Bill Watson joins Illinois as an Assistant Professor of Law. His work has focused on the intersection of public law and philosophy and has appeared or is forthcoming in law reviews like the Northwestern University Law Review and Boston University Law Review, as well as peer-reviewed journals like Law and Philosophy and Legal Theory. He is currently working on projects that address originalism in constitutional interpretation, the import of legal positivism for legal interpretation, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent treatment of precedent. Professor Watson received his JD from the University of Chicago Law School and his PhD in Philosophy from Cornell University. He was a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School immediately prior to joining the University of Illinois faculty.

Jingkang (Jake) Gao joins Illinois as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law. In his work, he has explored how legal institutions can make urban mobility safer, cleaner, more accessible, and more equitable, and how insights from urban mobility can enrich the study of law. He has applied his background in law in his work with the Chicago Transit Authority on facilitating bus electrification and cultivating a healthier electric bus market in the United States. Professor Gao earned his JD from Columbia Law School and his PhD and an MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Maxim Krupskiy joins Illinois as a Visiting Scholar, as part of the Illinois Scholars at Risk program. He has more than twelve years of experience practicing law in Russia defending refugees and civil activists and, as an independent expert, has prepared more than forty independent anti-corruption expert opinions. Krupskiy recently spent time as a Visiting Scholar at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a Non-Resident Fellow at the George Washington University, Russia Program.

Benjamin Horton joins Illinois as a Visiting Lecturer in Law and Stanton Fellow with our First Amendment Clinic. He was inspired to pursue a legal education during the 2016 presidential election and focused his education on free expression and election issues, participating in several clinics and interning for the Center for Democracy and Technology. After completing his JD at Harvard Law School, Horton spent a year with Free Speech For People, an election litigation nonprofit, and two years clerking in the District of Massachusetts.

The College of Law is proud to have these individuals joining our faculty and looks forward to their accomplishments as part of the University of Illinois.

Sherkow receives prestigious recognition as University Scholar

Professor Jacob Sherkow is one of only five University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors to be named a University Scholar in recognition of his excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.

The scholars program recognizes faculty excellence and provides $15,000 to each scholar for three years to enhance their academic careers. The money may be used for travel, equipment, research assistants, books or other purposes.

“The University Scholars program celebrates the remarkable achievements of the named individuals,” said Nicholas Jones, the University of Illinois System’s executive vice president and vice president for academic affairs. “Our faculty represent the strong foundation of the world-class academic experience that contributes to the betterment of society and draws students and researchers to the U. of I. System universities from across the globe. The University Scholars are exemplars of that faculty excellence.

“When you consider the diversity of scholarship across all three of our universities and the standards of academic excellence that we nurture and grow through our recruitment of esteemed educators and researchers, all of our University Scholar recipients should be deservedly proud of the honor.”

Sherkow publishes chapter in COVID-19 and the Law

Professor Jacob Sherkow is one of the authors of a chapter in the new book “COVID-19 and the Law,” published by Cambridge University Press. The chapter examines the ways in which aspects of health law such as food and drug regulation, healthcare reimbursement, and direct research and development subsidies encouraged and impeded new technologies in the fight against COVID-19. The authors sought to provide insight to highlight important lessons for policymakers in order to better prepare for the next pandemic.

Politico quotes Sherkow on CRISPR case

The dispute over who invented CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing is headed to federal appellate court, and Politico turned to Professor Jacob Sherkow to help sort out the details. He expects the case will return to patent court and may result in changes to the licensing fees collected. “Absolutely none of this under any reasonable interpretation is going to change what the retail sticker cost of these drug therapies are going to be — not by a dollar, not by a cent,” Sherkow added.