Читать книгу Intellectual Property Law for Engineers, Scientists, and Entrepreneurs - Howard B. Rockman - Страница 38

It is common knowledge that the law is slow to change. However, the law does change to reflect changes in society and changes in technology. For example, several years ago, the patent laws did not cover software algorithms. Today, the law has been changed by the courts, and software and algorithms, to an extent, can be patented. Thus, the laws can be changed in one of two ways: either by the decisions of courts being overruled by higher courts, or by the enactment of statutes by the legislatures. In addition, certain government agencies have the authority to make changes by executing rules and orders, such as interest rate changes by the Federal Reserve System.

The courts do have the ability to overrule or not follow prior decisions; however, in the interest of retaining stability, consistency, and predictability in the law, courts are quite reluctant to overrule or not follow prior decisions. However, at the same time, courts recognize that nothing is as permanent in this world as change itself, and, based on slightly different facts, a court may or may not follow an earlier decision, or may completely overrule an earlier decision as being outdated. For example, in 1904, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that separate but equal schools divided on racial lines was not a violation of the Constitution. In 1954, however, the Warren Court, based on additional evidence showing actual unfairness of such separate but equal schools, reversed the earlier court and decided that separate but equal schools along racial lines was a violation of the Constitutional right of equal protection of the law.