Antitrust and Trade Regulation Commons^™

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 …

Upon Further Review: Why The Nfl May Not Be Free After Clarett, And Why Professional Sports May Be Free From Antitrust Law, Darren W. Dummit

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This note begins by reviewing the Jewel Tea line of cases that theoretically serve as the starting point for any non-statutory exemption discussion, followed by brief overviews of the contrasting Wood and Mackey lines of cases. The background section then turns to a summary of Brown--the latest Supreme Court decision relating to the collective bargaining process in professional sports--followed by a brief discussion of the NFL eligibility rule and how it differs from the recently-enacted NBA eligibility rule, which is of unquestioned legality. Finally, both the District Court and Court of Appeals decisions in Clarett are summarized.

The analysis begins …

Bringing Down A Giant: The Monopoly Of Music Television, Margaret Brown

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This note details a history of Viacom, MTV and the dispute with Soul Train; explores some key aspects of antitrust law; applies this law to the facts of the Viacom case; and asks the courts to evaluate non-compete agreements under a different standard in the context of the music industry.