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Articles 1 - 18 of 18

Full-Text Articles in Law

Intellectual Property Rights In Advertising, Lisa P. Ramsey Oct 2006

Intellectual Property Rights In Advertising, Lisa P. Ramsey

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Before the twentieth century, U.S. courts refused to protect copyright in advertisements. Until the middle of the twentieth century, advertising slogans generally were not registered or protected under U.S. trademark law. Today, firms can acquire copyright protection in advertising and there is no categorical rule against trademark registration or protection of slogans. This Article questions whether this extension of copyright protection to advertising and trademark protection to slogans has a satisfactory utilitarian justification[...] If it is too difficult to completely eliminate copyright protection of advertising, Congress should at least consider reducing such protection to increase the free flow of advertising …


Protecting Abused, Neglected, And Abandoned Children: A Proposal For Provisional Out-Of-State Kinship Placements Pursuant To The Interstate Compact On The Placement Of Children, John C. Lore Iii Oct 2006

Protecting Abused, Neglected, And Abandoned Children: A Proposal For Provisional Out-Of-State Kinship Placements Pursuant To The Interstate Compact On The Placement Of Children, John C. Lore Iii

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children deals with the interstate placement of abused, neglected and abandoned children. This article addresses the critical need for reform of the Interstate Compact and attempts to tackle its most serious flaw-the lack of a provisional placement for children awaiting approval of out-of-state kinship placements. The recently enacted Safe and Timely Interstate Placement of Foster Children Act of 2006 (the "Act") is seriously flawed to the detriment of one of our country's most vulnerable groups and the very population it is designed to protect-children who have been abused, neglected and abandoned. This article …


The Neglected Political Economy Of Eminent Domain, Nicole Stelle Garnett Oct 2006

The Neglected Political Economy Of Eminent Domain, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Michigan Law Review

This Article challenges a foundational assumption about eminent domain- namely, that owners are systematically undercompensated because they receive only fair market value for their property. In fact, scholars may have overstated the undercompensation problem because they have focused on the compensation required by the Constitution, rather than on the actual mechanics of the eminent domain process. The Article examines three ways that "Takers" (i.e., nonjudicial actors in the eminent domain process) minimize undercompensation. First, Takers may avoid taking high subjective value properties. (By way of illustration, Professor Garnett discusses evidence that Chicago's freeways were rerouted in the 1950s to avoid …


The High Stakes Of Wto Reform, James Thuo Gathii May 2006

The High Stakes Of Wto Reform, James Thuo Gathii

Michigan Law Review

Behind the Scenes at the WTO definitively exposes how the trade negotiation process makes it possible for a few rich countries to dominate the trade agenda at the expense of all other countries. It is one of the first studies that authoritatively shows how trade negotiations have developed into "a game for high stakes, between unequally matched teams, where much of the game is played with few rules and no referee" (p. 50). The book attributes the deadlocked nature of the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations and the recent disruptions of the World Trade Organization's ("WTO") ministerial meetings to …


Pathological Patenting: The Pto As Cause Or Cure, Rochelle Dreyfuss May 2006

Pathological Patenting: The Pto As Cause Or Cure, Rochelle Dreyfuss

Michigan Law Review

The Patent Act was last revised in 1952. The hydrogen bomb was exploded that year, vividly demonstrating the power of the nucleus; in the ensuing postwar period, the Next Big Thing was clearly the molecule. Novel compounds were synthesized in the hopes of finding new medicines; solid-state devices exploited the special characteristics of germanium and other semiconductors; as investments in polymer chemistry soared, advice to the college graduate soon boiled down to "one word ... just one word[:] ... Plastics." Over the next half-century, things changed dramatically. "Better living through chemistry" has begun to sound dated (if not sinister). Genomics …


The Trademark Dilution Revision Act Of 2006: A Welcome—And Needed—Change, Dale M. Cendali, Bonnie L. Schriefer Jan 2006

The Trademark Dilution Revision Act Of 2006: A Welcome—And Needed—Change, Dale M. Cendali, Bonnie L. Schriefer

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Some have argued that the changes to the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (the “FTDA”) embodied in the recently enacted Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006 (the “TDRA”) threaten to infringe upon the right to free speech. This is simply not the case. The FTDA has always protected First Amendment rights, and the TDRA clarifies and strengthens those protections. While the concept of dilution was introduced in 1927, there was no federal dilution law in the United States until 1995, when Congress passed the FTDA. Since then, various federal courts have reached different conclusions regarding issues such as: (1) what constituted …


The Dilution Solution: Populating The Trademark A-List, Scott C. Wilcox Jan 2006

The Dilution Solution: Populating The Trademark A-List, Scott C. Wilcox

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

In our celebrity-conscious culture, the media serve as arbiters of fame. The editors of Us Weekly and People wield significant influence over public recognition of celebrities. Since the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (“FTDA”) amended the Lanham Act in 1995, federal courts have adopted similar roles as arbiters of fame, determining which trademarks are sufficiently famous to receive federal protection against dilution. Recent changes to the Lanham Act, however, reserve the availability of dilution actions to “A-list” marks. These changes fulfill the objectives of trademark law while achieving Congress’s intent in enacting the FTDA.


What Is Dilution, Anyway?, Stacey L. Dogan Jan 2006

What Is Dilution, Anyway?, Stacey L. Dogan

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Ever since the Supreme Court decided Moseley v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc. in 2003, an amendment to the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (“FTDA”) has appeared inevitable. Congress almost certainly meant to adopt a “likelihood of dilution” standard in the original statute, and the 2006 revisions correct its sloppy drafting. Substituting a “likelihood of dilution” standard for “actual dilution,” however, does not resolve a deeper philosophical question that has always lurked in the dilution debate: what is dilution, and how does one prove or disprove its probability? The statutory definition notwithstanding, this issue remains largely unanswered, leaving the courts with the …


Anti-Terrorist Finance In The United Kingdom And United States, Laura K. Donohue Jan 2006

Anti-Terrorist Finance In The United Kingdom And United States, Laura K. Donohue

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article adopts a two-tiered approach: it provides a detailed, historical account of anti-terrorist finance initiatives in the United Kingdom and United States-two states driving global norms in this area. It then proceeds to a critique of these laws. The analysis assumes-and accepts-the goals of the two states in adopting these provisions. It questions how well the measures achieve their aim. Specifically, it highlights how the transfer of money laundering tools undermines the effectiveness of the states' counterterrorist efforts-flooding the systems with suspicious activity reports, driving money out of the regulated sector, and using inappropriate metrics to gauge success. This …


Global Markets And The Evolution Of Law In China And Japan, Takao Tanase Jan 2006

Global Markets And The Evolution Of Law In China And Japan, Takao Tanase

Michigan Journal of International Law

The first angle of this Article concerns the exclusivity of rights, which is the notion that a right has an exclusive boundary of ownership. The socialist system and traditional customary law in China gave only weak recognition to this concept, especially prior to China's move toward a market economy and the introduction of modern law. The second angle addresses the functionality of extralegal norms. Law reforms tend to be measured by the efficiency gains they produce, a process intensified by competition among systems. The third angle involves the ideological nature of the market-oriented development of law. The foreign enterprises and …


How Does Culture Count In Legal Change?: A Review With A Proposal From A Social Movement Perspective, Setsuo Miyazawa Jan 2006

How Does Culture Count In Legal Change?: A Review With A Proposal From A Social Movement Perspective, Setsuo Miyazawa

Michigan Journal of International Law

We have in this volume four articles on legal change in China and Japan written by four distinguished authors. These articles vary with regard to subject state, specificity of issues, and breadth of analytical scope. They commonly discuss one factor, however: culture. The purpose of this Comment is to examine the way each article uses culture in its explanations of legal change. The Comment concludes with a brief suggestion, from a social movement perspective, on employing culture as an explanatory tool in a non-essentialist way.


The Law And The Non-Law, Katharina Pistor Jan 2006

The Law And The Non-Law, Katharina Pistor

Michigan Journal of International Law

This brief Comment reflects on the construction of the "non-law" as analytical categories in the four contributions. It suggests that the struggle with "non-law" reflects a deeper confusion about the role of law in ordering social relations broadly defined.


The Culture Of Legal Change: A Case Study Of Tobacco Control In Twenty-First Century Japan, Eric A. Feldman Jan 2006

The Culture Of Legal Change: A Case Study Of Tobacco Control In Twenty-First Century Japan, Eric A. Feldman

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article argues that the interaction of international norms and local culture is a central factor in the creation and transformation of legal rules. Like Alan Watson's influential theory of legal transplants, it emphasizes that legal change is frequently a consequence of learning from other jurisdictions. And like those who have argued that rational, self-interested lawmakers responding to incentives such as reelection are the engine of legal change, this Article treats incentives as critical motivators of human behavior. But in place of the cutting-and-pasting of black-letter legal doctrine it highlights the cross-border flow of social norms, and rather than material …


What Have We Learned About Law And Development? Describing, Predicting, And Assessing Legal Reforms In China, Randall Peerenboom Jan 2006

What Have We Learned About Law And Development? Describing, Predicting, And Assessing Legal Reforms In China, Randall Peerenboom

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article applies existing conceptual tools for describing, predicting, and assessing legal reforms to the efforts to establish rule of law in China, in the process shedding light on the various pathways and methodologies of reform so as to facilitate assessment of competing reform strategies. While drawing on China for concrete examples, the discussion involves issues that are generally applicable to comparative law and the new law and development movement, and thus it addresses


Victimizing The Abused?: Is Termination The Solution When Domestic Violence Comes To Work?, Nicole Buonocore Porter Jan 2006

Victimizing The Abused?: Is Termination The Solution When Domestic Violence Comes To Work?, Nicole Buonocore Porter

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Part I of this article will discuss domestic violence, explaining the dynamics of domestic violence in an effort to shed light on why it is so difficult for a battered woman to leave the abusive relationship. This understanding is necessary for a sensitive and informed decision-making process. This Part will also discuss the magnitude of the effect that domestic violence has on the workplace. Part II will discuss a company's potential legal liability for: (a) wrongfully terminating the employee-victim and (b) failing to protect other employees (including, perhaps, the employee-victim herself) if the company does not terminate the employee-victim and …


Dilution's (Still) Uncertain Future, Graeme B. Dinwoodie, Mark D. Janis Jan 2006

Dilution's (Still) Uncertain Future, Graeme B. Dinwoodie, Mark D. Janis

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Dilution looked to be a potent weapon when Congress introduced it as § 43(c) of the Lanham Act in 1995. Indeed, some observers feared that it would be too potent (and in some contexts, such as cybersquatting, it successfully augmented traditional causes of action). But a series of court decisions, culminating in the Supreme Court’s 2003 Moseley v. V Secret Catalogue opinion, weakened dilution protection so profoundly that what remained wasn’t of much consequence. Congress has recently sought to breathe new life into dilution law, enacting the Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006 (“TDRA”). Some might see this as a …


Law And Culture In China And Japan: A Framework For Analysis, John O. Haley Jan 2006

Law And Culture In China And Japan: A Framework For Analysis, John O. Haley

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Comment is divided into two parts. The first sets forth a series of definitional propositions intended for a more general analysis of the interrelationships of law and culture. The second comprises an introduction to the evolution of legal institutions that enables us to understand better the reception and development of Western legal institutions in East Asia and provides context for the four articles and their individual and collective insights.


Signaling Conformity: Changing Norms In Japan And China, David Nelken Jan 2006

Signaling Conformity: Changing Norms In Japan And China, David Nelken

Michigan Journal of International Law

Whatever their differences, the articles in this issue also have much in common in addition to their regional focus. The author of this Comment shall discuss in turn three (related) theoretical issues that arise, to a greater or lesser degree, in all four contributions. The first Part of this Comment considers the insights of these articles on the need to move from discussing transplants to focusing on transnational legal processes. The second Part examines what the contributions tell us about culture, legal culture, and the so-called "norm of conformity." I shall concentrate in particular on the cultural sources of choices …