Law Commons^™

Divined Comity: Assessing The Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation And Updating The Second Circuit’S Prescriptive Comity Framework, William Weingarten

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

In re Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation, recently decided by the Second Circuit, sets a grave precedent for American plaintiffs seeking redress for antitrust injuries wrought by foreign defendants. The case involved a group of Chinese manufacturers and exporters of vitamin C, who conspired to fix prices and restrict output in the export market, injuring American consumers in import commerce. The foreign manufacturers conceded that they had colluded in fixing prices and restricting output, in flagrant violation of U.S. antitrust law. And yet, with the assistance of the Chinese government—intervening as amicus curiae—the defendants were successfully able to argue, on appeal …

Jurisdiction Beyond Our Borders: United States V. Alcoa And The Extraterritorial Reach Of American Antitrust, 1909–1945, Laura Phillips Sawyer

Scholarly Works

Chapter in the book Antimonopoly and American Democracy by Daniel A. Crane and William J. Novak, eds., Oxford University Press, 2023.

In 1945, Judge Learned Hand wrote one of the most influential opinions in modern antitrust law. In declaring that the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) had illegally monopolized the industry for virgin aluminum and had participated in an illegal international cartel, Hand both revived and extended American antitrust law. The ruling is famous for several reasons: it narrowly defined the relevant market in favor of the government; it expanded the category of impermissible dominant firm conduct; it interpreted congressional …

Trademarks, Gis, And Commercial Aspects Of Wine Distrubtion Agreements, Sarah A. Hinchliffe

Journal of Food Law & Policy

The marketing of goods under geographical names has always been common. In addition to introducing commercial facets of wine distribution agreements, this article discusses the justifications, principles and, policies that lie behind the protection of geographical indications (GIs) for wine on an international level as well as in the Old World and, to a lesser degree, in the New World. The scope and shape of the GI system will then be scrutinized in light of its own justifications and in the light of its impact on international trade, intellectual property, and agricultural policy.

Finding A Forest Through The Trees: Georgia-Pacific As Guidance For Arbitration Of International Compulsory Licensing Disputes, Karen Mckenzie

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

This paper will examine the challenges of international compulsory licensing by examining the issue historically and legally as well as offer possible solutions. Thus, this paper will explore the challenge of balancing corporate interests against the affordability and availability of pharmaceuticals by focusing on discrete situations in developing countries, the history of compulsory licensing, and how the World Health Organization (the “WHO”) and the WTO have attempted to tackle these challenges through compulsory licensing, and it will suggest a possible framework for use in arbitration, which balances equities through a Georgia-Pacific analysis.

Competition Enforcement, Trade And Global Governance: A Few Comments, Petros C. Mavroidis, Damien J. Neven

Faculty Scholarship

The debate on international antitrust has come from two perspectives. On the one hand, the trade community has emphasised the interface between trade policy and competition (policy and) enforcement. This interface, which was recognised from the outset of multilateral efforts to liberalise trade in what would become the GATT and eventually the WTO, focuses on the prospect that trade liberalisation through border instruments should not be undone by restrictive business practices (RBPs), placing a particular responsibility in this respect on competition enforcement. On the other hand, the antitrust community has emphasised the risk of inefficient enforcement when several jurisdictions can …

Dispute Settlement Under The Next Generation Of Free Trade Agreements, Kathleen Claussen

Articles

No abstract provided.

Choosing The Partnership: English Business Organization Law During The Industrial Revolution, Ryan Bubb

Seattle University Law Review

For most of the period associated with the Industrial Revolution in Britain, English law restricted access to incorporation and the Bubble Act explicitly outlawed the formation of unincorporated joint stock companies with transferable shares. Furthermore, firms in the manufacturing industries most closely associated with the Industrial Revolution were overwhelmingly partnerships. These two facts have led some scholars to posit that the antiquated business organization law was a constraint on the structural transformation and growth that characterized the British economy during the period. Importantly, however, the vast majority of manufacturing firms in the modern sector were partnerships. An easy explanation for …

Nuclear Chain Reaction: Why Economic Sanctions Are Not Worth The Public Costs, Nicholas C.W. Wolfe

Nicholas A Wolfe

International economic sanctions frequently violate human rights in targeted states and rarely achieve their objectives. However, many hail economic sanctions as an important nonviolent tool for coercing and persuading change. In November 2013, the Islamic Republic of Iran negotiated a temporary agreement with major world powers regarding Iran’s nuclear program. The United States’ media and politicians have repeatedly and incorrectly attributed Iran’s willingness to negotiate to the effectiveness of economic sanctions.

Politicians primarily focus on immediate domestic effects and enact sanctions without a thorough understanding of the long-term effects on the United States economy and the public within a targeted …

Understanding The Limits Of The Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvement Act Using Tort Law Principles As A Guide, Rene H. Dubois

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rise Of The Intercontinentalexchange And Implications Of Its Merger With Nyse Euronext, Latoya C. Brown

Latoya C. Brown, Esq.

This paper examines the impending merger between the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and NYSE Euronext against the backdrop of the current structure of the global financial services industry. The paper concludes that the merger embodies what the financial services industry is becoming and captures the model that will allow exchanges to remain competitive in today’s marketplace: mega-exchanges with broader asset classes and electronic platforms. As technology and globalization threaten their vitality, exchanges will need to continue reinventing and adapting. Increasingly over the last decade they have done so by merging and by moving, at least a part of, their operations on screen. …

Discovery In A Global Economy, Maurice Stucke

Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

What Is Competition?, Maurice Stucke

Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Review Of Legal Polycentricity And International Law, Frank J. Garcia

Frank J. Garcia

No abstract provided.

Are People Self-Interested? The Implications Of Behavioral Economics On Competition Policy, Maurice Stucke

Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Dragon In The Room: China's Anti-Monopoly Law And International Merger Review, Christopher Hamp-Lyons

Vanderbilt Law Review

In a world where mergers affect every corner of the planet, any government seeking competitive markets has an interest in ensuring that these mergers are not harmful to competition. As China, the world's most populous country, has committed to a market economy, it has now taken the momentous step of enacting its own Anti- Monopoly Law ("AML"). This effects a dramatic change in the antitrust regulation of multinational mergers. In international antitrust, even subtle legal differences between jurisdictions create significant potential for conflict. For this reason, the advent of antitrust merger review by a country with such massive international economic …

Extraterritoriality, Antitrust, And The Pragmatist Style, Justin Desautels-Stein

Publications

In the last decades of the 20th century, David Kennedy and Martti Koskenniemi made the case that the modern structure of international legal argument was characterized by "pragmatism." Taking this idea as its baseline, this Article's central argument is that legal pragmatism embodies a dominant style of contemporary legal reasoning, and that as Kennedy and Koskenniemi might have suggested, it is on display in some of the canonical antitrust decisions having an international dimension. The Article also seeks to show that pragmatism's ostensible triumph is best understood as a contest of three distinctly legal pragmatisms: "eclectic pragmatism," as evidenced in …

Culture, Sovereignty, And Hollywood: Unesco And The Future Of Trade In Cultural Products, Christopher M. Bruner

ExpressO

On October 20, 2005, the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted a treaty – by a vote of 148-2, with 4 abstentions – that legitimates domestic legal measures aimed at the protection of local producers of "cultural activities, goods and services." Opposed by the United States and Israel, the Convention represents a major diplomatic victory for Canada and France – its principal proponents – and a major blow to Hollywood and the United States, audiovisual products being among America's most lucrative exports. Both Canada and France, like many countries around the world, have …

Korea's Competition Law And Policies In Perspective Symposium On Competition Law And Policy In Developing Countries , Youngjin Jung, Seung Wha Chang

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of competition law and competition policy in Korea and to analyze their relationship with other important national economic policies. Section II provides a historical survey of the country's competition law and policy. Section III examines the major components of the law and evaluates how the antitrust authority has actually enforced its provisions in practice. It also highlights elements of the law that have been tailored to Korea's unique economic circumstances. Section IV focuses on the relationship between competition policy and related economic policies-in particular, industrial policy and trade and investment …

Challenges To The Effective Implementation Of Competition Policy In Regulated Sectors: The Case Of Telecommunications In Mexico Symposium On Competition Law And Policy In Developing Countries , Oliver Solano, Rafael Del Villar, Rodrigo Garcia-Verdu

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This article reviews Mexico's competition law and policy, with particular emphasis on the challenges that the Federal Competition Commission ("CFC") has faced in implementing an effective competition policy. Some of the difficulties analyzed are the loopholes in the current laws, the lack of cooperation between the CFC and other sectoral regulators, and the regulatory arbitrage by market participants. These challenges are then illustrated by the developments in the telecommunications sector. This sector is particularly interesting in the case of Mexico given the overwhelming power of the dominant firm and the overlapping and even conflicting mandates of the different government authorities …

Harold Maier, Comity, And The Foreign Relations Restatement, Andreas F. Lowenfeld

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Hal Maier's career and mine have interacted in several respects. We have both served in the Legal Adviser's Office of the State Department; we have both taught Conflict of Laws as well as International Law; and we have both tried to show--I believe successfully--that there is no sharp divide between "Public International Law" and "Private International Law." In particular, we have both been interested in the reach and limits of economic regulation across international frontiers, initially in connection with antitrust and securities regulation, but also in connection with economic sanctions, pollution controls, and other interactions of governmental and private activity. …

Competition Advocacy: Time For A Rethink Symposium On Competition Law And Policy In Developing Countries , Simon J. Evenett

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This paper examines the conventional wisdom concerning competition advocacy, paying particular attention to the applicability of such wisdom to developing countries. The definition of competition advocacy, its evaluation, and the likelihood of its successful implementation are discussed in some detail. The paper concludes with a call for considerably more thought about what, hitherto, has been one of the relatively uncontroversial aspects of many competition authorities' activities.

Same Plant, Different Soil: Japan's New Merger Guidelines Symposium On Competition Law And Policy In Developing Countries, Salil K. Mehra

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Japan's New Merger Guidelines ("New Merger Guidelines"), issued by the Japan Fair Trade Commission ("JFTC") in May 2004, mark a turning point for antitrust in Japan. It is likely that Japan's New Merger Guidelines will be seen as a model for legal transplants in the future. Despite the similarities between Japan's New Merger Guidelines and the U.S. Horizontal Merger Guidelines ("U.S. Merger Guidelines"), Japan's New Merger Guidelines are unlikely to be a "success" in the same way that the U.S. Merger Guidelines have been a success since their adoption by the American competition agencies. Although Japan is far from a …

Development Of Competition Law In Vietnam In The Face Of Economic Reforms And Global Integration, The Symposium On Competition Law And Policy In Developing Countries, Alice Pham

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This article examines the development of a competition regime in Vietnam, with all of the existing difficulties and problems. In the context of this socialist country, we examine the economic reform and integration process and the challenges of liberalization and globalization. Finally, we provide some thoughts for the future. Specifically, Section II addresses the emergence of Vietnam's competition law since the 1980's. Section III describes some of the key legal provisions of the Competition Law of Vietnam. Section IV evaluates the current challenges in the implementation of the Vietnam competition regime, while Section V proposes some recommendations.

At The Crossroads: Making Competition Law Effective In Pakistan Symposium On Competition Law And Policy In Developing Countries , Joseph Wilson

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Just as the first merger wave of the late 1880's in the United States resulted in the birth of Sherman Act, the recent global merger wave of the early 2000's, coupled with the growing liberalization of trade, prompted a large number of developing and transitional economies to adopt competition laws. Pakistan is one of the few developing countries with a competition law in place for more than three decades: the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Ordinance of 1970 ("MRTPO" or the "Ordinance"). While the Ordinance contained fairly strong provisions, the agency entrusted to implement it, the Monopolies Control Authority ("MCA"), …

Political Economy Of Competition Law: The Case Of Thailand, The Symposium On Competition Law And Policy In Developing Countries, Deunden Nikomborirak

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This paper will address the political economy of competition law in Thailand. Section II will provide a historical perspective of Thai Competition Law. Section III will show what went wrong with the law's implementation since its promulgation in 1999. Section IV will assess the implications of the lack of competition law enforcement on business conduct and the establishment of a competition regime in Thailand. Section V will summarize major lessons learned in the Thai case that may be relevant to other developing countries considering adopting such a law or facing difficulties in its implementation. Finally, Section VI will draw conclusions …

Competition Policy And Practice In South Africa: Promoting Competition For Development Symposium On Competition Law And Policy In Developing Countries , Trudi Hartzenberg

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

South Africa's new competition policy and law were drafted during the early years of South Africa's new democracy, a period characterized by important domestic policy and regulatory reform. These reforms were not only part of the comprehensive program for the country's economic, social, and political transformation, but also its integration into the global economy after decades of isolation under the apartheid regime. In the case of competition policy, however, concerns about specific development challenges entrenched by the previous era of political and economic control, had to be explicitly reflected in the new South Africa's law and policy. It was clear …

Competition Policy In Developing Economies: The Case Of Brazil Symposium On Competition Law And Policy In Developing Countries , Gesner Oliveira, Thomas Fujiwara

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The objective of this article is to discuss the implementation of competition policy in Brazil through a historical perspective. In contrast with the experience of various OECD countries, including the United States in particular, competition policy in Brazil has only recently become relevant. However, its increasing prevalence has not been preceded by the development of a competition culture and institutions. This fact has several implications for policy making. Best practices in the OECD countries cannot be automatically imported without due attention to the peculiarities of a developing economy. This paper is divided into five sections. Section II describes the different …

Global Governance, Antitrust, And The Limits Of International Cooperation, Paul B. Stephan

ExpressO

The contemporary world economy make it easier to produce and sell across national borders. The partition of transactions into separate geographical components in turn makes it easier to pick and choose regulatory regimes. Antitrust law has dealt with this problem for nearly a century. At one time it regarded the assignment of a transaction to a particular territory as a prerequisite for the application of its rules; lately it has required much less. As a result, overlapping national regulation has become the dominant structure. Overlapping regulation has its own problems. National regimes may impose inconsistent rules and pursue conflicting ends. …

The Natural Law Basis Of Legal Obligation: International Antitrust And Opec In Context, Joel B. Moore

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stabilizes petroleum prices to promote the economic prosperity of its member nations for which oil is a substantial export. Price stabilization influences the price of petroleum around the world, impacting the economies of developed and developing countries. Under U.S. antitrust jurisprudence, the OPEC quota agreements that stabilize prices would likely be declared illegal, and other countries might also declare price fixing to be illegal under their respective competition laws.

Several U.S. Senators have recently proposed that price fixing should be illegal under international law as well. This Note avoids a superficial analysis …

The Return Of Timberlane?: The Fifth Circuit Signals A Return To Restrictive Notions Of Extraterritorial Antitrust, William J. Tuttle

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Over the past 100 years, the United States has remained ambivalent regarding the potential extraterritorial application of its antitrust laws. The executive, legislative, and judicial branches began with a doctrine of strict territoriality but promptly shifted toward an examination of the effects of the antitrust activity on U.S. commerce. Since the 1970s, the branches of government have refrained the question as one of statutory interpretation, embraced considerations of international comity, modified those considerations, and eventually rejected many of those same considerations.

Throughout this chaos, however, the results reached by the various branches of government have typically been consistent with the …