Antitrust and Trade Regulation Commons^™

A Machete For The Patent Thicket: Using Noerr-Pennington Doctrine’S Sham Exception To Challenge Abusive Patent Tactics By Pharmaceutical Companies, Lisa Orucevic

Vanderbilt Law Review

Outrageous drug prices have dominated news coverage of the American healthcare system for years. Yet despite widespread condemnation of skyrocketing drug prices, nothing seems to change. Pharmaceutical companies can raise drug prices with impunity because they hold patents on their drugs, which give them monopolies. These monopolies are only supposed to last twenty years, and then competing lower-cost drugs like generics can enter the market, driving down the costs of pharmaceuticals for all. But pharmaceutical companies have created “patent thickets,” dense webs of overlapping patents surrounding one drug, which have artificially extended the companies’ monopolies for years or even decades …

Franchise Participants As Proper Patent Opponents: Walker Process Claims, Robert W. Emerson

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Franchise parties may be sued for patent infringement, or they may seek to sue others for an antitrust injury as the result of a fraudulently obtained patent. Indeed, franchisors and franchisees may simultaneously fall under both categories-sued for infringement but aggrieved because the very basis of that suit is illegitimate in their eyes. These franchise parties may turn for relief to a patent-validity challenge authorized in the seminal case Walker Process Equipment, Inc. v. Food Machine & Chemical Corp. Franchise participants-franchisees and franchisors alike-may be the ideal Walker Process claimants. When these types of cases occur, the damages within the …

The New Separability, Lili Levi

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In Star Athletica v. Varsity Brands, the Supreme Court recently unveiled a new approach to separability. Because copyright law protects expression, not function, aesthetic features of useful articles are eligible for copyright protection only if they are separable from the functional work in which they are incorporated. But the Copyright Act does not define separability, and Star Athletica is the latest judicial effort to try to fill that void. Unfortunately, the new separability is open to a wide range of critiques. Relatively low-hanging fruit are the vagueness and indeterminacy of the new test, the Court's unsatisfactory attempts to avoid defining …

Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Human Rights And Regulatory Lessons From "Lilly V. Canada", Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The triangular interface between trade, intellectual property (IP) and human rights has yet to be fully formed, both doctrinally and normatively. Adding investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) to the mix increases the complexity of the equations to solve. Two resultant issues are explored in this Article. First, the Article considers ways in which broader public policy objectives—in particular the protection of human rights—can and should be factored into determinations of whether a state’s action is compatible with its trade obligations and commitments in the state-to-state dispute settlement context. Second, the Article examines whether doctrinal tools used in state-to-state, trade-dispute settlement to …

Promoting Access Over Ownership: Realigning Antitrust And Intellectual Property Law To Usher In An Era Of Collaborative Consumption, Adrian Kuenzler

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Following the US Supreme Court's endorsement of the promotion of consumer welfare as the single goal of antitrust and intellectual property laws, many courts have reasserted their commitment to the market access doctrine for antitrust and intellectual property law liability. These courts have rejected the Court's submission in GTE Sylvania to adhere to a strict output/profitability test concentrating predominantly on the positive and negative welfare effects regarding allegedly infringing conduct. This Article examines several important antitrust and intellectual property law decisions and locates within them a common flaw to express an intelligible, distinct doctrinal function for giving precedence to market …

Entering The Innovation Twilight Zone: How Patent And Antitrust Law Must Work Together, Jeffrey I.D. Lewis, Maggie Wittlin

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Patent law and antitrust law have traded ascendancy over the last century, as courts and other institutions have tended to favor one at the expense of the other. In this Article, we take several steps toward stabilizing the doctrine surrounding these two branches of law. First, we argue that an optimal balance between patent rights and antitrust enforcement exists that will maximize consumer welfare, including promoting innovation and economic growth. Further, as Congress is the best institution to find this optimum, courts should enforce both statutes according to their literal text, which grants absolute patent rights but allows for more …

Intercepting Licensing Rights: Why College Athletes Need A Federal Right Of Publicity, Talor Bearman

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The right of publicity is the right of an individual to control the commercial use of her name, image, likeness, or other identifiable aspects of her persona. In the United States, the right of publicity is a state-law right, not federal, and recognition of the right varies significantly from state to state. The lack of uniformity among states poses significant problems for individuals who are recognizable throughout the United States. Specifically, student athletes, who would lose the ability to play college athletics if they were reimbursed for the use of their images, are among the individuals most at risk of …

Trolling For Standards: How Courts And The Administrative State Can Help Deter Patent Holdup And Promote Innovation, Niels J. Melius

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Antitrust law and patent law share the common goal of improving economic welfare by facilitating competition and innovation. But these legal fields conflict when baseless claims of patent infringement disrupt the competitive process. In its eBay decision, the Supreme Court muddied the precedential waters by promulgating a vague doctrine of injunctive relief in patent infringement cases. In the years since, a split has emerged in the district courts on the question of which entities generally qualify for injunctive relief as an additional remedy to damages. This uncertainty has failed to mitigate an antitrust phenomenon known as "patent holdup," whereby an …

The Landscape Of Collective Management Schemes, Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Collective management comes in many shapes and sizes. There is, however, an interesting definition proposed by WIPO: [T]he term “collective management” only refers to those forms of joint exercise of rights where there are truly “collectivized” aspects (such as tariffs, licensing conditions and distribution rules); where there is an organized community behind it; where the management is carried out on behalf of such a community; and where the organization serves collective objectives beyond merely carrying out the tasks of rights management . . . . In contrast, “rights clearance organizations” are those which perform joint exercise of rights without any …

Wringing Songwriters Dry: Negative Consequences Of Compulsory Licensing For Ringtones, Daniel H. Mark

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

On October 16, 2006, the United States Copyright Office concluded in a Memorandum Opinion (the Ringtone Opinion) that, subject to certain caveats, the Copyright Act's § 115 statutory license applies to ringtones. The Copyright Office concluded that ringtones (including monophonic and polyphonic ringtones, as well as mastertones) are phonorecords, and deliveries of ringtones by wire or wireless transmission constitute digital phonorecord deliveries subject to compulsory licensing under § 115.2

In the Ringtone Opinion, the Copyright Office provided a testto determine whether a particular ringtone will qualify for thestatutory compulsory license under § 115. The opinion noted that...

"whether a particular …

Trade, Competition, And Intellectual Property--Trips And Its Antitrust Counterparts, Eleanor M. Fox

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines the interface between TRIPS' protection of intellectual property rights and antitrust law, and the extent to which TRIPS invites a counterpart agreement that would internationalize intellectual property antitrust rules.

Professor Fox argues that TRIPS does not call for internationalizing antitrust law, and that even developing countries, which might find a greater need for antitrust protection against abuse of dominance after TRIPS, might be better served by developing and enforcing a national antitrust law of their own.

She argues that TRIPS does, however, contemplate some limits to antitrust, lest antitrust enforcement impair protections guaranteed by TRIPS. Professor Fox …

Case Digest, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Case Digest provides brief analyses of cases that represent current aspects of transnational law. The Digest includes cases that establish legal principles and cases that apply established legal principles to new factual situations. The cases are grouped in topical categories, and references are given for further research:

Constitutionality of the Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments Upheld over Challenge by Deportable Alien and United States Spouse

Anetekhai v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

876 F.2d 1218 (5th Cir. 1989)

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Standing Granted to Challenge Hostile Takeover between Foreign Firms under United States Antitrust and Securities Laws

Consolidated Gold Fields PLC v. Minorco, …

Case Digest, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Agency for International Development's Adoption of Policy Placing Abortion-Related Restrictions on Grants to Nongovernmental Organizations Upheld DKT Memorial Fund Ltd. v. Agency for International Development 887 F.2d 275 (D.C. Cir.1989)

Federal Long-Arm Statute Authorizes Assertion of Personal Jurisdiction over Foreign Holder of United States Patent in Patent Ownership Suit National Patent Development Corporation v. T.J. Smith & Nephew Ltd. 877 F.2d 1003 (D.C. Cir.1989) (en banc)

Venue over Alien Defendants in Antitrust Suit Proper in any United States Federal District Court under Alien Venue AcT-Go-Video, Inc. v. Akai Electric Co., Ltd. 885 F.2d 1406(9th Cir. 1989)

INS Oral Notice to …

Blanket Licensing Of Music Performing Rights: Possible Solutions To The Copyright-Antitrust Conflict, Mary K. Kennedy

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Recent Development compares Buffalo Broadcasting with other blanket licensing decisions and predicts the reversal of Buffalo Broadcasting on appeal. Part II of this Recent Development discusses the organization and operation of the performing rights societies. Part III focuses on the pertinent antitrust principles and the history of antitrust litigation between the performing rights societies and various licensees. Part IV examines recent decisions addressing blanket licenses in which courts have used similar analyses yet reached differing results. Part V analyzes possible solutions to the conflict between antitrust and copyright laws in the blanket licensing context and concludes that resolution of …

Book Review, Joel Davidow (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Book Review

Antitrust and American Business Abroad James Atwood and Kingman Brewster 2d ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., 1981. Two-volume text. Pp. 359 and 355.

Reviewed by Joel Davidow

International antitrust is one of the gourmet specialties on the menu of United States law. The combination of competition law, international law, and patent law, spiced with complex diplomatic and trade issues as well as a dash of foreign flavor, is irresistible to the connoisseur. The proof: even though few law schools offer a separate course in international antitrust law and few lawyers deal with the subject regularly, articles, hornbooks, …

Bibliography: The Extraterritorial Application Of United States Antitrust Laws: A Selective Bibliography, Howard A. Hood

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Those who have commented on the Webb-Pomerene Act can be divided into two groups: (1) those who support the Act and would retain it or even expand its scope; and (2) those who oppose the Act and would repeal or weaken it. The first group believes that application of the antitrust laws to the foreign activities of United States companies impairs their ability to compete in the world market. The second group rejects this contention and considers the Webb-Pomerene Act to be unjustifiably inconsistent with the legal framework of free competition...

This bibliography presents selected citations to the literature of …

Recent Decisions, Gayle B. Carlson, Michael P. Coury, Celia J. Collins, Spencer M. Sax

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

ACT OF STATE DOCTRINE-ACT OF STATE DOCTRINE DOES NOT PRECLUDE ADJUDICATION OF ANTITRUST CLAIM INVOLVING ALLEGED FRAUDULENT PROCUREMENT OF FOREIGN PATENTS

Gayle B. Carlson

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ADMIRALTY-DAMAGES FOR WRONGFUL DEATH ON THE HIGH SEAS ARE LIMITED TO PECUNIARY LOSS

Michael P. Coury

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ANTITRUST-E.E.C. TREATY-JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT THAT OPERATES TO PRECLUDE ENTRY INTO A GEOGRAPHIC MARKET IS PROHIBITED UNDER ARTICLE 85 OF THE E.E.C. TREATY

Celia J. Collins

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-TEAS STATUTE'S DENIAL OF FREE EDUCATION TO ILLEGAL ALIENS VIOLATES EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE AND IS PREEMPTED BY THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT

Spencer M. Sax

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SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY-FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITIES ACT …

Recent Decisions, Robert S. Patterson, George M. Taylor, Iii

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The instant decision is an evolutionary step in the development of extraterritorial antitrust but it falls short of establishing a workable standard. What the decision does point out is that the courts lack the experience and expertise necessary to deal effectively with the application of antitrust laws abroad. This inexperience will further erode the consistent application of United States antitrust laws abroad as the courts begin to hear cases involving less obvious offenses and less significant effects on United States commerce." If, as Sabbatino suggests,' the primary competency of the Executive in foreign affairs is to be the major factor …

Recent Decisions, John J. Curry, Jr., Dan T. Carter, Melissa Gallivan, James A. Delanis

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

ANTITRUST--Import Restrictions--Import Ban Ordered as Equitable Relief for Violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act Must Not Discriminate Against Foreign Producers or Reduce Competition

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European Communities--Restrictive Trade Practices--Patent Licensing Agreements that Restrict Competition between Member States Without Improving Production or Distribution or Promoting Technical or Economic Progress Violate Article 85

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JURISDICTION--CONTINENTAL SHELF--ABANDONED VESSEL SALVAGED FROM THE SURFACE OF THE UNITED STATES CONTINENTAL SHELF BEYOND TERRITORIAL WATERS IS NOT UNDER JURISDICTION OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

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IMMIGRATION--A STATE MAY PROHIBIT THE EMPLOYMENT OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Antitrust--Horizontal Territorial Restraint--Allocation of Territories Among Members of Cooperative Purchasing Association Is Per Se Violative of Section 1 of the Sherman Act

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Antitrust--Robinson--Patman Price Discrimination Act--Complaint Charging That Profits Derived from Interstate Sales Were Used To Underwrite Allegedly Discriminatory Intrastate Price-Cutting Practices States a Cause of Action Under Section 2(a)

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Bankruptcy--Corporate Reorganization-Trustee in Reorganization Lacks Standing To Sue Indenture Trustee on Behalf of Debenture Holders

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Constitutional Law--Commerce Clause--Exactions on Airport Users by Local Governments Measured by Number of Enplaning Passengers Are Constitutionally Valid

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Constitutional Law--Right to Speedy Trial--State-Imposed Five-Year Delay Does Not Abridge Right to Speedy …