Google search records turnover ruling [US DC] News
Google search records turnover ruling [US DC]

Gonzales v. Google, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Judge James Ware, March 17, 2006 [ruling that internet search giant Google must hand over the addresses of 50,000 randomly selected websites indexed by its search engine, but refusing to force Google to hand over search terms used by site visitors as initially demanded by a DOJ subpoena]. Read the full text of the ruling [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US Congress approves first Patent Act

On April 10, 1790, Congress approved the US's first Patent Act. The Patent Act of 1790 allowed inventors to maintain "sole and exclusive right and liberty of making, constructing, using and vending to others" a patented invention for fourteen years. The Act furthermore created the US Patent Board, the precursor to the modern US Patent Office. Read the current US Patent Law from the Cornell University Law School.

Hugo Grotius born

Hugo Grotius, Dutch jurist, statesman and father of international law was born in Delft, Holland, on April 10, 1583. His best-known work is De Jure Belli ac Pacis (On the Law of War and Peace), which he published in 1625.