Law Commons^™

Toward A Patent Exhaustion Regime For Sustainable Development, 32 Berkeley J. Int'l Law. 330 (2014), Benjamin Liu

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

This Article argues that the current exhaustion doctrine, when applied to the refurbishing industry, fails to balance its mandate of promoting technological progress with the broader program of sustainable development and is therefore unsuitable for countries on the modernization path. First, what constitutes an infringing “making” remains underdetermined. Second, the evidentiary hurdle for proving legal refurbishment is too onerous for the low margin and under-resourced refurbishing industry. Finally, the all-or-nothing approach to judging infringement fails to account for the nuanced cost-benefit nexus that exists between patentees, refurbishers, and society at large and discourages private ordering. To recalibrate the balance between …

China's Nine-Dashed Map: Maritime Source Of Geopolitical Tension, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The South China Sea (SCS) is becoming an increasingly contentious source of geopolitical tension due to its significance as an international trade route, possessor of potentially significant oil and natural gas resources, China’s increasing diplomatic and military assertiveness, and the U.S.’ recent and ongoing Pacific Pivot strategy. Countries as varied as China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and other adjacent countries have claims on this region’s islands and natural resources. China has been particularly assertive in asserting its SCS claims by creating a nine-dash line map claiming to give it de facto maritime control over this entire region without regard to …

Newsletter, Fall 2014, Vol. 9, Issue 1, The Dean Rusk International Law Center

Newsletters

Georgia Law Summer Program in Brussels and Geneva - Record Year; New Partnership in China with Jiao Tong University; Lectures: Lee A. Feinstein, Karima Bennoune; Congressman David Scott; William Roebuck; Ramin Jahanbegloo; Cybersecurity Conference Looks at Potential for Private-Public Collaboration; New Roles of Corporations in Global Governance; Upcoming Conference: Children and International Criminal Justice, October 28, 2014; Global Internship Program; Georgia Law at Oxford; International Judicial Training Program; Transnational Law Program; Scholarly Exchange: Visiting Professor; International Law Faculty Updates; LL.M. Class of 2015 Welcomed; International Advocacy: Georgia Law Students Travel to Vienna for 21st Annual Vis International Arbitration Moot; Spotlight …

The Mauritius Convention On Transparency: Comments On The Rreaty And Its Role In Increasing Transparency Of Investor-State Arbitration, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In July 2014, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted the Mauritius Convention on Transparency that, if widely adopted, will do much to increase the transparency of investor-state arbitrations conducted under thousands of existing investment treaties and under any set of arbitration rules. This Policy Paper introduces the background and objectives of the Transparency Convention, provides commentary on each of its specific articles, and explains how the Transparency Convention can accomplish broad reform.

New Uncitral Arbitration Rules On Transparency: Application, Content And Next Steps, Lise Johnson, Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In July 2013, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted a package of rules aiming to ensure transparency in investor-State arbitration (the “Rules on Transparency”), ratifying the work done by delegations to UNCITRAL – comprised of 55 Member States, additional observer States and observer organizations – over the course of nearly three years of negotiations.

Under previous versions of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, disputes between investors and States were often not made public, even where important public policies were involved or illegal or corrupt business practices were uncovered. In contrast, the new rules, which will officially come …

Linking Trade And Security: Evolving Institutions And Strategies In Asia, Europe, And The United States By Vinod K. Aggarwal And Kristi Govella, Henry S. Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Trade and security, while seemingly unrelated, have had a long and complicated relationship. On the one hand, trade has often been used as a means to enhance the security of the state. For example, the famous Silk Road was created and maintained by the Han Dynasty to seek allies to help defend itself against the Huns. On the other hand, security has been deemed as an important safeguard to trade, as is shown by the prevalence of the ‘Gunboat Diplomacy’ in the nineteenth century

International Standards In Flux: A Balkanized Ict Standard-Setting Paradigm And Its Implications For The Wto, Han-Wei Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Voluminous studies have documented the rise of international standards and their ramifications for the World Trade Organization (WTO), though most of these studies have focused on environment, food safety, public health, and financial regulations issues. An equally important, yet less explored, area is the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. This article seeks to contribute to the literature by examining the concept of an international standard in the ICT industry and its implications for the WTO.Drawing upon empirical data, this article makes four claims. First, today, the WTO policymakers are facing a ‘balkanized’ standard-setting paradigm in the ICT sector. Global …

Trade, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides a historical overview of analysis of U.S. foreign trade policy during the early decades of the country's history. Examines bilateral U.S. trade relations with France and Great Britain, provides import and export statistics, details on commodities and products imports and exported, trade statistics, and information on the political and economic factors shaping U.S. trade during this period.

Brief For Amicus Curiae Law Professors And Scholars In Support Of Apellee, In Authors Guild V. Google, Inc., Michael W. Carroll, Brandon Butler, Meredith Jacob

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Legitimacy And Impartiality In A Sovereign Debt Workout Mechanism, Odette Lienau

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Particularly in light of recent developments in sovereign debt litigation, there is a pressing need for discussion of more robust sovereign debt restructuring mechanisms. This paper contends that any sovereign debt workout mechanism (DWM) should embody the principles of legitimacy and impartiality, to the extent possible, in order to garner the stable and long-term adherence of international stakeholders. These two elements are important both for attracting support ex ante, i.e. in the initial development of any treaty, ad hoc, or soft law restructuring mechanism, and for ensuring ex post that a DWM is ultimately utilized by states and their creditors. …

An Overview Of The International Treatment Of Exceptions, Eric Schwartz

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

This article is intended as a very brief overview and history of the international treatment of “fair use” or its equivalent — that is, a general summary of the treaty obligations and national law exceptions (in statute or by common law) to the exclusive rights of authors and owners of copyrights.

Tpp And Trans-Pacific Perplexities, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

In the past few years, the United States has been busy negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement with countries in the Asia-Pacific region. These countries include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Although it remains unclear which chapters or provisions will be included in the final text of the TPP Agreement, the negotiations have been quite controversial. In addition to the usual concerns about having high standards that are heavily lobbied by industries and arguably inappropriate for many participating countries, the TPP negotiations have been heavily criticized for their secrecy and lack …

Export Control Reform Where Are We Now?, Mark J. Sundahl, Jon P. Yormick

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

No abstract provided.

State Control Over Interpretation Of Investment Treaties, Lise Johnson, Merim Razbaevea

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Many critiques of investment treaties relate to concerns that tribunals’ interpretations of these agreements depart from states’ understandings of the texts, and do so in unpredictable ways leading to expensive litigation and unforeseen liability. States, however, can take steps to make their intentions regarding the texts clearer, and reduce the risk of uncertain outcomes.

This policy paper discusses these possible steps, and the legal rules supporting them, providing guidance to states, attorneys, and tribunals regarding the important role of states in clarifying vague standards in and managing liability under existing investment treaties. A second paper, published by the Global …

No. 8 - The Cuban Embargo: Policy Outlook After 50 Years, Rebecca H. White, C. Donald Johnson, Archibald R.M. Ritter, Ray Walser, Ricardo Torres, Timothy L. Meyer, Daniel W. Fisk, Vicki J. Huddleston, Robert L. Muse, José R. Cabañas, Marisa Pagnattaro, Jonathan C. Benjamin-Alvarado, Gary W. Black, C. Parr Rosson Iii, Jorge Mario Sanchez Egozcue

Occasional Papers Series

Organized and sponsored by the Dean Rusk Center for International Law and Policy, The Cuban Embargo: Policy Outlook after 50 Years was a daylong conference exploring issues related to the impact of trade sanctions imposed by the United States on Cuba, pathways to lifting the embargo and potential U.S.-Cuba trade opportunities. Ambassador José R, Cabañas, the chief of mission at the Cuban Interests Section in Washinton, D.C., served as the keynote speaker for the event. The transcript of the conference proceedings has been edited for publication with the consent of the speakers.

Arbitration Agreements, Expanded Judicial Review, And Preemption – Hall Street Associates And Nafta Traders, Inc. – A National Debate With International Implications, J. Keaton Grubbs, Justin Blount, Kyle Post

Faculty Publications

On May 13, 2011, the Texas Supreme Court, in construing the Texas Arbitration Act, rejected the U. S. Supreme Court’s analysis in Hall Street Associates, L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc. 1 At issue was whether the parties may by agreement expand judicial review of an arbitration award beyond the specific grounds for vacatur or modification set forth in the Federal Arbitration Act. In NAFTA Traders, Inc. v. Quinn2 the Texas Supreme Court held that the Texas Arbitration Act does not preclude the parties from supplementing judicial review by contract. A discussion on the reasoning of the Texas Court and others that …

Free Trade In Patented Goods: International Exhaustion For Patents, Sarah R. Wasserman Rajec

Faculty Publications

Modern international trade law seeks to increase global welfare by lowering barriers to trade and encouraging international competition. This “free trade” approach, while originally applied to reduce tariffs on trade, has been extended to challenge non-tariff barriers, with modern trade agreements targeting telecommunication regulations, industrial and product safety standards, and intellectual property rules. Patent law, however, remains inconsistent with free-trade principles by allowing patent holders to subdivide the world market along national borders and to forbid trade in patented goods from one nation to another. This Article demonstrates that the doctrines thwarting free trade in patented goods are protectionist remnants …

Gender And Economic, Social, And Cultural Rights, Christine M. Chinkin

Book Chapters

At the time of adoption of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1966, the concept of gender had not entered the international arena. Relations between women and men in the allocation and enjoyment of rights were addressed through the concept of non-discrimination, inter alia on the basis of sex. The term ‘gender’ began to enter the international agenda in the 1980s, first through the global conferences on women. The World Conference on Human Rights at Vienna in 1993 continued this trend, referring to gender-based violence, gender bias, and gender-disaggregated statistics. It also called for ‘the …

Using Investor-State Mediation Rules To Promote Conflict Management, Susan Franck

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

International investment treaties offer critical infrastructure for globalization and are one of the backbones of larger dialogues related to the international political economy. As the treaties grant substantive and procedural rights, the capacity of international investors to directly access dispute resolution involving States has been a story of both success and discontent. Investment treaty arbitration, in particular, has been a source of polarization; and stakeholders are actively seeking alternatives to formalized adjudication before ad hoc tribunals. Mediation, in addition to other forms of alternative dispute resolution and conflict management, has become an increasingly vital part of the debate about the …

Transfer Pricing: Un Practical Manual – China, Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Andrew Shact

Faculty Scholarship

Any contemporary Chinese transfer pricing assessment needs to consider the United Nation (UN) Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries released in May 2013. In particular, Chapter 10 discusses Country Practices and presents China’s most up to date transfer pricing policy statement.

China is not an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member nor has it formally adopted the OECD’s Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations. Chapter 10 makes it very clear that China is charting a different transfer pricing course in at least nine important areas. China believes that: 1. significant comparability adjustments are …

Trading Away Human Rights, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Olivier De Schutter

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Trade negotiators in Singapore recently failed to finalize a deal on the long-awaited Trans-Pacific Partnership; they will soon have another chance to complete what would be the world’s largest regional free-trade agreement. But, given serious concerns that the TPP will fail to consider important human-rights implications, that is no cause for celebration.

A Redd Solution To A Green Problem: Using Redd Plus To Address Deforestation In Ghana Through Benefit Sharing And Community Self-Empowerment, William Daniel Nartey

Student Works

The process of converting forests into non-forests deforestation claims 17 million hectares of the world’s tropical forests each year. Ghana is no stranger to the problem of deforestation. The developing country’s rainforest has been decreasing rapidly and significantly over time.

Part II of this paper addresses the primary driving factors of deforestation in Ghana, including human activities such as legal and illegal logging and unsustainable agricultural practices, as well as non-human factors such as poverty and population growth, which are inevitably linked. Part III identifies the constitutional land tenure rights and laws of the timber industry, assessing how these have …

International Trade Law And Information Policy: A Recent History, Genevieve B. Tung

Librarian Scholarship at Penn Law

No abstract provided.

Modes Of Reasoning In Wto Law, Chios Carmody

Law Publications

How the law reasons is central to its legitimacy. This article examines how legal reasoning is characterized by two types of logic, deductive and inductive, which are apparent in the legal system of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The article goes on to suggest that the interaction of deductive reasoning in the form of presumptions and inductive reasoning in the form of proof give rise to a third type of logic, abductive logic, defined as the ‘best’ estimate on current knowledge. It then examines how this three-fold combination of ideas is displayed in WTO law and explores what implications this …

Dodd-Frank's Conflict Minerals Rule: The Tin Ear Of Government-Business Regulation, Henry Lowenstein

Marketing and Hospitality, Resort and Tourism Management

This paper examines an unusual provision included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010), Section 1502 known as the Conflict Minerals Rule. This provision, having nothing to do with the subject matter of the act itself, attempts to place a chilling effect on the trade of four identified minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The provision and its subsequent rule, surprisingly delegated to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (an agency lacking subject matter expertise in minerals) presents a case and object lesson of almost every cost, procedural and legal error that can take place …

A National Mineral Policy As An International Investment Law Stratagem: The Case Of Tajikistan's Gold Reserves, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A National Mineral Policy As An International Investment Law Stratagem: The Case Of Tajikistan's Gold Reserves, Nadia B. Ahmad

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article proposes that a national mineral policy ("NMP") can be crafted to generate foreign direct investment ("FDI") and strengthen sustainable development goals. Less-developed countries ("LDCs") typically overlook or underestimate this federal policy imperative while seeking to harness mineral resources.' Creation of a NMP and complementary changes to federal mining investment laws can provide host countries increased opportunities as well as autonomy to profit from their own natural resources and, at the same time, investor nations can benefit from a NMP because of further mining prospects.

This Article goes on to discuss how the formulation and implementation of a NMP …

The International Sugar Trade And Sustainable Development: Curtailing The Sugar Rush, Nadia B. Ahmad

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article will briefly examine the history of the international sugar trade and discuss the current status of the sugar industry in world markets, specifically in Brazil, India, and the United States. The international sugar trade industry should consider instituting sustainable development practices not only for the public good, but also to enhance its bottom line. As "one of the most highly distorted agricultural commodity markets," the international sugar market is an ideal environment to implement sustainable development practices and begin change with respect to CSR through "guaranteed minimum payments to producers, production and marketing controls (quotas), state-regulated retail prices, …

Judicial Authority In Wto Law: A Commentary On The Appellate Body's Decision In China-Rare Earths, Julia Ya Qin

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Judicial Authority In Wto Law: A Commentary On The Appellate Body's Decision In China-Rate Earths, Julia Ya Qin

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.