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Pharmaceutical Patent Litigation Settlements: Balancing Patent & Antitrust Policy Through Institutional Choice, Timothy A. Cook

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Should a branded pharmaceutical company be allowed to pay a generic competitor to stay out of the market for a drug? Antitrust policy implies that such a deal should be prohibited, but the answer becomes less clear when the transaction is packaged as a patent-litigation settlement. Since Congress passed the Hatch-Waxman Act, which encourages generic manufacturers to challenge pharmaceutical patent validity, settlements of this kind have been on the rise. Congress, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Trade Commission have condemned these agreements as anticompetitive and costly to American consumers, but none of these bodies has been able to …

Is Usda Organic A Seal Of Deceit: The Pitfalls Of Usda Certified Organics Produced In The United States, China And Beyond, Chenglin Liu

Faculty Articles

American consumers' appetite for organic foods (organics) has dramatically increased since Congress passed the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) in 1990. Because the domestic organic food industry has been unable to meet the growing demand for these products, U.S. groceries have increasingly relied on imported organics. Studies show that 40% of organic foods consumed in the United States are imported from over 100 foreign countries.

To regulate organic food production, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) accredits certifying agents, which in turn certify organic farms and handlers according to U.S. organic standards. Certifying agents can be state agencies or …