IEEE-USA 08/31/01 Amicus Curiae Brief Before the U.S. Supreme Court in FESTO CORPORATION v. SHOKETSU KINZOKU KOGYO KABUSHIKI CO., ET AL. (No. 00-1543)."

Building Careers and Shaping Public Policy

Amicus Curiae Brief In the Supreme Court of the United States

BAYSTATE TECHNOLOGIES, Inc., PETITIONER
v.
HOWARD L. BOWERS, RESPONDENT
(No. 02-1585)

On June 2, 2003, IEEE-USA submitted an amicus curiae brief to the United States Supreme Court supporting the petition for review in the case of Baystate Technologies, Inc. vs. Bowers. Development of the brief was coordinated by IEEE-USA's Intellectual Property Committee. The main thrust of the amicus brief is that the lower court decisions in Bowers create substantial legal uncertainty as to whether copyright holders can unilaterally prohibit by license agreement long-standing, widely accepted and essential practices of reverse engineering. IEEE-USA was joined in its brief by the American Library Association, the American Association of Law Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries. Support for the preparation and filing of the brief was provided pro bono by attorneys Andrew C. Greenberg and Matthew J. Conigliaro of Carlton Fields, PA, with the assistance of Jonathan Band of Morrison & Foerster, LLP The following is a collection of materials concerning this case and the IEEE-USA's position.

IEEE-USA Materials

IEEE-USA Amicus Brief in Baystate (June 2003)
06/03/03 Press Release (Pending)
IEEE-USA Position Statement on Reverse Engineering (Nov. 1997)
IEEE-USA Position Statement on Non-Negotiable Terms and Conditions in the Sale or Transfer of Computer Software and Other Digital Works (Feb. 2003)
IEEE-USA Position Statement on Copy Control Systems (Oct. 2002)
IEEE-USA Intellectual Property Committee (Chair: Glenn Tenney)

Lower Court Opinions and Briefs

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Supreme Court

(pending)

Selected News Stories:

Headed in Reverse, Ed Foster (InfoWorld, Sept. 2003)

Last Update: 26 January 2005
Staff Contact: Bill Williams, billwilliams @ieee.org

Copyright © 2003, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.,
Claimed for original materials only. Permission to copy IEEE-USA policy communications is granted for non-commercial uses with appropriate attribution, unless otherwise indicated.