Law Commons^™

The Granting Clause And Intellectual Property Rights Management In Open-Source Software Licensing, Vikrant N. Vasudeva

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

The Expansion Of Trademark Rights In Europe, Irina Pak

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

A Decade Of Registered And Unregistered Design Rights Decisions In The Uk: What Conclusions Can We Draw For The Future Of Both Types Of Rights?, Estelle Derclaye

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

Goodwill U: School Name Change & Trademark Law, Alexandra J. Roberts

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Daniel Bodansky, The Art And Craft Of International Environmental Law, Sandrine Maljean-Dubois, Vanessa Richard

Santa Clara Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Defending Those People, Abbe Smith

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Many practitioners and scholars have written perceptively about the motivations of criminal defenders. Some have written eloquently. I have my own body of work on this and related questions.

This essay is about why the author has devoted her professional career--her life--to defending people most of society would just as soon banish and forget. After nearly thirty years of criminal law practice, her reasons are such a part of her that they are nearly inarticulable. The author is a criminal defender in her soul. She also has been teaching and writing about criminal defense for almost as long as she ...

Getting Nano Tattoos Right — A Checklist Of Legal Ethical Hurdles For An Emerging Nanomedical Technology, Michael G. Bennett, R. John Naranja Jr.

School of Law Faculty Publications

The nano tattoo represents a nascent technology designed to be implanted in the skin to provide continuous and reliable glucose detection for diabetics. Its potential benefits are compelling not only for its ability to prevent diabetic complications and decrease related social costs, but also for its ease of use and relative patient-user comfort. This Note aims to articulate a checklist of fundamental intellectual property, bioethical and system design issues that are appropriately considered in the pre-clinical, pre-commercialization phase of nano tattoo development. Early and regular consideration of these factors can increase the odds of a societally beneficial dissemination of this ...

Humane Punishment For Seriously Disordered Offenders: Sentencing Departures And Judicial Control Over Conditions Of Confinement, E. Lea Johnston

Faculty Publications

At sentencing, a judge may foresee that an individual with a major mental disorder will experience serious psychological or physical harm in prison. In light of this reality and offenders’ other potential vulnerabilities, a number of jurisdictions currently allow judges to treat undue offender hardship as a mitigating factor at sentencing. In these jurisdictions, vulnerability to harm may militate toward an order of probation or a reduced term of confinement. Since these measures do not affect offenders’ day-to-day experience in confinement, these expressions of mitigation fail to protect adequately those vulnerable offenders who must serve time in prison. This Article ...

Can Bruce Willis Leave His Itunes Collection To His Children?: Inheritability Of Digital Media In The Face Of Eulas, Claudine Wong

Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal

In early September, 2012, multiple news agencies reported that actor Bruce Willis was going to sue Apple for the right to pass his iTunes collection to his children upon his death. While the story ultimately proved to be false, it begs the question: Can Mr. Willis actually pass his iTunes songs, legally purchased but subject to a license agreement, to his daughters? We are increasingly acquiring digital music and e-books, copyrighted digital content with legally well-understood physical equivalents. As users pass away, their families are left to wonder if or how they can gain access to the deceased person’s ...

Ids Practice After Therasense And The Aia: Decoupling The Link Between Information Disclosure And Inequitable Conduct, Arpita Bhattacharyya, Michael R. Mcgurk

Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal

The duty to disclose material information to the United States Patent and Trademark Office under 37 C.F.R. § 1.56 (Rule 56) is a critical requirement when prosecuting a patent application in the United States. The failure to disclose information can result in a later ruling of inequitable conduct rendering the patent unenforceable. The Federal Circuit’s en banc decision in Therasense heightened the “materiality” and “intent” standards for finding inequitable conduct. However, there has been much uncertainty in the patent community regarding the future of the duty of disclosure under Rule 56. The majority in Therasense theorized that ...

Putting The Reign Back In Sovereign, Allison Christians

Pepperdine Law Review

In its first term, the Obama administration enacted two pieces of legislation, each designed to protect an increasingly vulnerable income tax base, and each of which had the potential to set a new and unprecedented course for no less than the regulation of the global economy by the nation-state. The first, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), sought to end global tax evasion through tax havens. The second, a little-noticed two-page addendum to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), sought to end the contribution of American multinationals to corruption in governance by codifying the transparency ...

The Transfer Pricing Regs Need A Good Edit, Susan C. Morse

Pepperdine Law Review

The U.S. government has broad discretion to change the transfer pricing regulations as they apply to corporate multinationals, and these regulations need changing because they give too much leeway to taxpayers and will continue to serve an important function in the division of international tax jurisdiction regardless of the fate of pending reform proposals. Xilinx and Veritas illustrate that taxpayers whose transfer pricing is challenged can successfully defend themselves using arm’s length definitions in the government’s own regulations. U.S. tax administrators should write revised transfer pricing rules that afford taxpayers less contracting freedom. They should incrementally ...

Corporate And International Tax Reform: Proposals For The Second Obama Administration (And Beyond), Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Pepperdine Law Review

The passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (“ATRA”) offers an opportune moment to consider proposals for corporate and international tax reform. With the debate over individual tax rates for the income and estate tax settled for the present, the President and Congress are free to consider broader reforms. This paper will attempt to raise some proposals for US corporate and international tax reform, beginning with long-term options (a 10 year horizon), continuing with the medium term (2-5 years) and concluding with short-term options (1-2 years). The main proposals are for the US to adopt a VAT and ...

Passthrough Entities: The Missing Element In Business Tax Reform, Karen C. Burke

Pepperdine Law Review

Reform of the U.S. corporate tax system is again on the agenda. Despite important differences, many current proposals share two common goals: (1) reducing the statutory corporate tax rate to improve U.S. international competitiveness and (2) broadening the corporate tax base by reducing or eliminating business expenditures to offset revenue losses. Given the significance of the passthrough sector and the relationship between individual and corporate taxes, however, such reforms need to be considered within a broader context. Part I of this article discusses the growing significance of the passthrough sector, which now accounts for roughly half of net ...

A Proposal For The Tax Treatment Of Interest In A Territorial System, Martin A. Sullivan

Pepperdine Law Review

To prevent negative effective tax rates in a territorial system, a multinational corporation’s deductions for interest expense attributable to foreign profits must be disallowed. To determine what portion of worldwide interest is foreign, it is commonly suggested that interest be allocated in proportion to assets. Because it would ease administrative problems and because it would reduce the incentives to shift profits through aggressive transfer pricing, allocation of interest in proportion to gross profits would be a superior approach. Also, contrary to the usual argument, the United States should not be reluctant to unilaterally adopt interest disallowance rules because it ...

The Globalization Of Corporate Tax Reform, Steven A. Bank

Pepperdine Law Review

With the growth of multinational corporations and its effect on corporate tax revenues, it is not surprising that international tax reform is a major part of President Obama’s Framework for Business Tax Reform as he begins his second term. Noticeably missing from this and other discussions of the major structural reform proposals, however, is any mention of the influence and importance of international corporate tax reform efforts. Although the concern over corporate tax evasion is especially pronounced in the U.S., the "decentering" of multinational corporations and corporate tax revenues is by no means an exclusively American problem. Around ...

Occupy The Tax Code: Using The Estate Tax To Reduce Inequality And Spur Economic Growth, Paul L. Caron, James R. Repetti

Pepperdine Law Review

Inequality has been increasing in the United States. We should care about this increase because inequality contributes to a variety of adverse social consequences that persist across generations. There is also substantial empirical evidence that inequality has a long-term negative impact on economic growth. For many decades, federal tax policy has played an important role in reducing inequality, although the impact of federal taxes on inequality has waxed and waned depending on the focus of elected officials. We argue that the estate tax is a particularly apt vehicle to reduce inequality because inheritances are a major source of wealth among ...

Who Killed The Rule Against Perpetuities?, Grayson M. P. Mccouch

Pepperdine Law Review

During the last two decades more than half the states have either abolished or substantially weakened the traditional rule against perpetuities. The increased demand for perpetual trusts is widely attributed to the ability of such trusts to avoid federal wealth transfer taxes. Furthermore, recent empirical studies confirm a correlation between repeal of the rule against perpetuities (coupled with favorable state income tax treatment) and increased personal trust assets and average account size. This symposium article discusses the asymmetric benefits and drawbacks of perpetual trusts and concludes that the decline of the rule against perpetuities cannot be explained solely in terms ...

Distracted From Distraction By Distraction: Reimagining Estate Tax Reform, Edward J. Mccaffery

Pepperdine Law Review

Recent legislation has left a gift and estate tax that will apply to far fewer than 1% of all decedents each year. This Article, prepared for a symposium on Tax Advice for the Second Obama Administration, argues that the estate tax has become largely irrelevant, except ironically as a spur to the creation and perpetuation of dynastic wealth via 'Dynasty Trusts.' The tax no longer meets any compelling policy rationale, such as raising revenue, 'backing up” the income tax, injecting progression into the tax system, or breaking up large concentrations of wealth. It is time to move on, and to ...

Tax Reform And The American Middle Class, Kirk J. Stark, Eric M. Zolt

Pepperdine Law Review

This essay examines how concern for the economic plight of the middle class should influence debates over federal tax reform. It begins with an overview of data on two key developments in American economic life over the past quarter century. The first is the deteriorating economic position of the middle class, a long-term trend illustrated by stagnant income growth, job polarization, and more limited economic opportunities as compared to earlier eras. The second development is the declining federal tax burden of the American middle class, including historically low average tax rates and relative tax shares, not just for the federal ...