Law Commons^™

An Offensive Weapon?: An Empirical Analysis Of The 'Sword' Of State Sovereign Immunity In State-Owned Patents, Tejas N. Narechania

Tejas N. Narechania

Convergence And Incongruence: Trademark Law And Icann’S Introduction Of New Generic Top-Level Domains, Christine Haight Farley

Christine Haight Farley

This paper demonstrates how problematic convergences between Internet technology, the demands of a burgeoning e-market and trademark laws have created myriad issues in international governance of domain names. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the body that governs internet's infrastructure, recently approved a new policy that would allow it to accept applications for additional generic top-level domains (gTLDs). What ICANN contemplates is a uniform system to approve generic top level domains that is expected to have profound implications. Under this new plan anyone can apply for a new gTLD at any time and it could be literally …

Trade Secret Law And Information Development Incentives, Michael Risch

Michael Risch

Trade secrets differ from other forms of intellectual property in many subtle ways that affect incentives to invest in information development. These differences relate not only to the types of information protected, but also to the requirements one must meet to protect that type of information. The various divergences and intersections of trade secret laws with other intellectual property laws lead to differences in the amount and types of investments companies make in developing information. This chapter explores five types of differential incentives associated with trade secret law: - Trade secret law v. no trade secret law - Trade secret …

How China Succeeded In Protecting Olympic Trademarks And Why This Success Will Not Generate Immediate Improvements In Intellectual Property Protection In China, Aileen M. Mcgill

Aileen M McGill

After centuries of stagnant growth and international isolation, China has emerged as the fastest-growing economy in the world and one of the most important parties in international trade. This staggering growth and influx of foreign goods has led to rampant counterfeiting of brand-name goods in a society with little cultural basis for individual intellectual property rights. When Beijing was awarded the 2008 summer Olympics in 2001, the Chinese government moved quickly to prepare for this beloved international event, rallying this massive country for, what many considered to be their grand emergence onto the world stage. One of the reforms enacted …

Unbranding, Confusion & Deception, Aaron K. Perzanowski

Aaron K. Perzanowski

This Article addresses the phenomenon of unbranding. Unbranding occurs when a firm chooses to discontinue its use of a brand that has developed negative associations among consumers in favor of a new brand, often in hopes of escaping the consequences of inferior products or illegal activity. Companies like AIG, Blackwater, Philip Morris, and WorldComm have all employed this strategy in recent years. Unbranding represents a striking departure from branding orthodoxy, which stresses the maintenance of brand equity through the gradual evolution of a brand. After examining the factors that prompt firms to take the radical step of eliminating an established …