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The English Fire Courts And The American Right To Civil Jury Trial, Jay Tidmarsh

Journal Articles

This Article uncovers the history of a long-forgotten English court system, the “fire courts,” which Parliament established to resolve dispute between landlords and tenants in urban areas destroyed in catastrophic fires. One of the fire courts’ remarkable features was the delegation of authority to judges to adjudicate disputes without juries. Because the Seventh Amendment’s right to a federal civil jury trial depends in part on the historical practice of English courts in 1791, this delegation bears directly on the present power of Congress to abrogate the use of juries in federal civil litigation.

Parliament enacted fire-courts legislation on eight occasions …

Brief Amicus Curiae On Behalf Of Intellectual Property Professors In Support Of Petitioner, Mark Mckenna, Mark A. Lemley, Christopher Jon Sprigman, Rebecca Tushnett

Court Briefs

No. 15-866
Star Athletica, LLC v. Varsity Brands, Inc.

On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

From the Summary of Argument:

In its 1976 revision of the Copyright Act, Congress decided to separate applied art from industrial design, admitting the former to copyright and excluding the latter. It drew this distinction precisely because it intended to differentiate copyright from design and utility patent. Congress recognized as applied art only those aesthetic features of a useful article that could be “separated” from that useful article rather than being integrated into the article.

The …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Intellectual Property Law Professors, Mark Mckenna

Court Briefs

No. 15-14889
Edward Lewis Tobinick v. Steven Novella

Appeal from the United States Distric Court for the Southern District of Florida, Case No.: 9:14-cv-80781-RLR (Hon. Robin L. Rosenber)
[Including the] Motion for Leave to File Brief of Amici Curiae Intellectual Property Law Professors, Nov. 30, 2015.

From the Summary of Argument

The District Court correctly determined that the challenged speech of Dr. Steven Novella was not commercial speech for purposes of applying the Lanham Act. Appellant’s argument to the contrary conflates “seeking profit” with “commercial speech.”

Brief Of The Catholic University Of America School Of Canon Law, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, The Queens Federation Of Churches, And The Serbian Orthodox Church In North And South America, As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioners, Richard W. Garnett, David H. Hyams

Court Briefs

No. 15.1005
Chabad-Lubavitch of Michigan v. Dr. Dov Schuchman

On Petition for a Writ of Ceriorari to the Supreme Court of Michigan

This brief addresses the importance of the principle of church autonomy and the protections provided by the First and Fourteenth Amendments and this Court's precedents regarding religious denominations' internal mandatory dispute-resolution procedures.

Brief Amici Curiae Of 37 Intellectual Property Professors In Support Of Petition For Certiorari, Mark A. Lemley, Mark Mckenna

Court Briefs

No. 15-777
Samsung Electonics Co., Ltd. v. Apple Inc.

On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

From the Summary of Argument:

This case presents two issues that justify this Court’s review.
First, the Federal Circuit upheld a finding of design patent infringement based on the very same Apple designs that it found functional under trade dress law. Such a counterintuitive outcome is possible because the Federal Circuit has constructed a highly constrained definition of functionality in design patent law, which is at odds with this Court’s precedent in both utility …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Constitutional Law Scholars In Support Of Petitioners, Ryan A. Shores, William J. Haun, Richard W. Garnett

Court Briefs

Nos. 14-1418, 14-1453, 14-1505, 15-35, 15-105, 15-119, & 15-191
Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged v. Sylvia Matthews Burwell

On Writs of Ceriorari to the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Tenth, and District of Columbia Circuits

From the Summary of Argument

“[I]n a complex society and an era of pervasive governmental regulation, defining the proper realm for free exercise can be difficult.” Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 2751, 2781, 2785 (2014) (Kennedy, J., concurring). The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”)2 addresses that difficulty by harmonizing religious freedom and …

Inside The Taft Court: Lessons From The Docket Books, Barry Cushman

Journal Articles

For many years, the docket books kept by certain of the Taft Court Justices have been held by the Office of the Curator of the Supreme Court. Though the existence of these docket books had been brought to the attention of the scholarly community, access to them was highly restricted. In April of 2014, however, the Court adopted new guidelines designed to increase access to the docket books for researchers. This article offers a report and analysis based on a review of all of the Taft Court docket books held by the Office of the Curator, which are the only …

Perceptions And Reality: The Enforcement Of Foreign Arbitral Awards In China, Roger P. Alford, Julian G. Ku, Bei Xiao

Journal Articles

The Article begins in Part I by discussing the academic literature reviewing China's implementation of the New York Convention with re­spect to foreign arbitral awards. In Part II, the Article lays out the domes­tic legal framework in China for implementing foreign arbitral awards and reviews judicial decisions interpreting the New York Convention. In Part III, the Article reports on the results of its survey of practitioner perceptions and experiences with the Chinese system of enforcing arbitral awards. Finally, in Part IV, the article concludes with a possible explana­tion for continuing skeptical views of China's system of enforcing foreign arbitral awards.