Law Commons^™

Tweet To Defeat Government Bribes: Limiting Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Under The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act To Combat Global Corporate Corruption, Sarah Routh

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Congress enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the 1970s to address the rampant bribery of foreign officials by US companies. Because that resulted in a competitive disadvantage to US companies in the global corporate community, Congress amended the Act to add § 78dd-3, which extended the FCPA's jurisdiction to foreign entities and individuals whose alleged offenses had occurred within the United States. This led to a vast overall increase in enforcement matters, but foreign entities and individuals have been impacted the most, even if their actions have had virtually no connection to the United States. Not only have …

China's Belt And Road Development And A New International Commercial Arbitration Initiative In Asia, Weixia Gu

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The policy centerpiece of President Xi Jinping's foreign strategy, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), ambitiously aspires towards expanding regional markets and facilitating regional cooperation. In context of a rising volume of cross-border transactions generated by the BRI, a robust legal framework on dispute resolution is required to forge investor confidence and enable BRI's integral goal of economic integration. In light of the substantial levels of harmonization among arbitration laws, arbitration is argued to constitute a primary vehicle of international commercial dispute resolution in an economically integrated Asia under the BRI. It is against this backdrop that the Article argues …

Multilateralism’S Life-Cycle, Harlan G. Cohen

Scholarly Works

Does multilateralism have a life-cycle? Perhaps paradoxically, this essay suggests that current pressures on multilateralism and multilateral institutions, including threatened withdrawals by the United Kingdom from the European Union, the United States from the Paris climate change agreement, South Africa, Burundi, and Gambia from the International Criminal Court, and others, may be natural symptoms of those institutions’ relative success. Successful multilateralism and multilateral institutions, this essay argues, has four intertwined effects, which together, make continued multilateralism more difficult: (1) the wider dispersion of wealth or power among members, (2) the decreasing value for members of issue linkages, (3) changing assessment …

Free Trade, Fair Trade, And Selective Enforcement, Timothy Meyer

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Restoring Trade's Social Contract, Frank J. Garcia, Timothy Meyer

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Trade, Redistribution, And The Imperial Presidency, Timothy Meyer

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

International Contracts, William P. Johnson, Sabin Volciuc-Ionescu, Catalin-Sergiu Dinu, Katya Logunov, Adrián Lucio Furman, Adam Rose, Willem Den Hertog

All Faculty Scholarship

This article identifies some of the key developments for international contracts that occurred in 2017 in a variety of jurisdictions, with particular attention given to commercial relationships that arise in connection with product distribution. Specifically, in this article we cover developments concerning international sales law (the CISG), choice of law in Romania, franchising in Canada, termination of commercial agency in Argentina, a court decision on scope of commercial agency law in the UK, and the creation of a new commercial court in the Netherlands.

Brief Amici Curiae Of Intellectual Property Professors In Support Of Petitioner, No. 18-600, Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions, Inc. V. Renesas Electronics America, Inc., Timothy R. Holbrook, Ann Bartow, Andrew Chin, David C. Hricik, Yvette Joy Liebesman, Lucas Osborn

All Faculty Scholarship

To comply with the obligations of the Uruguay Round Agreements, particularly the Agreement on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), Congress amended 35 U.S.C. § 271(a) to make it an act of infringement to “offer to sell” a patented invention within the United States. See Uruguay Round Agreements Act, Pub. L. No. 103-465, §§ 531-533, 108 Stat. 4809 (1994).

The Federal Circuit has interpreted this provision in a manner contrary to the presumption against the extraterritorial reach of United States laws. The Federal Circuit has held that location of the ultimate sale contemplated in the offer controls the …

Eli Lilly And The International Investment Law Challenge To A Neo-Federal Ip Regime, Jason Yackee, Shubha Ghosh

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article examines the implications of the Eli Lilly case-and international investment law (IIL) more generally-for the operation of an international intellectual property (IP) regime that functions along the lines of the "neo-federalist" model developed by Professors Dinwoodie and Dreyfuss. The neo-federalist model involves a world in which the international IP regime grants national political communities substantial discretion to pursue their own visions of the normatively proper balance between the rights of IP creators and of those who seek to use it. Importantly, that discretion involves the ability to alter the existing normative balance in either the direction of more …

The Limits Of International Copyright Exceptions For Developing Countries, Ruth L. Okediji

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The relationship between intellectual property (IP) protection and economic development is not better understood today than it was five decades ago at the height of the independence era in the Global South. Development indicators in many developing and least-developed countries reflect poorly in precisely the areas that are most closely associated with copyright law's objectives, such as promoting democratic governance, facilitating a robust marketplace of ideas, fostering domestic markets in cultural goods, and improving access to knowledge. Moreover, evidence suggests that copyright law has not been critical to the business models of the creative sectors in leading emerging markets. These …

Data At The Docks: Modernizing International Trade Law For The Digital Economy, Andrew D. Mitchell, Neha Mishra

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has been slow so far in responding to the various challenges arising from the integration of electronic commerce into cross-border trading activities. This slow response in the multilateral system is largely attributable to the complex, multifaceted nature of digital trade or electronic commerce, coupled with the conflict among countries on issues of Internet regulation and digital development. Nonetheless, international trade agreements, particularly at the WTO, play an important role in the creation of a secure, predictable, and trustworthy global regulatory framework for digital trade, and therefore, need to be reformed in a timely and meaningful …

Introduction To The Yale Symposium On Trade Law Under The Trump Administration, Kathleen Claussen, David Singh Grewal

Articles

No abstract provided.

Independence And Impartiality Of Arbitrators: A Rule Of Law Analysis, Stefanie Schacherer

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) through arbitration remains in a state of legitimacy crisis and discussions on reform are ongoing. Much of the criticism is focussed on who is deciding investment dispute cases. Investment arbitrators have been called “private judges” who operate in secrecy, are biased in favour of big multinational companies and have no regard for conflicts of interest. The course of the negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the European Union (EU) and the United States, highlighted to what extent ISDS through arbitration is perceived as unfair and biased (at least in Europe). As a reaction …

International Order Between Governance And Contract, Harlan G. Cohen

Scholarly Works

What is international law for? Is the goal to achieve cooperation in providing global public goods, such as managing the environment, providing peace and security, alleviating poverty, controlling the spread of diseases, protecting basic human rights, and supplying best-practices and standards on health and labor? Or is it about managing conflict and competition between states and others by setting expectations and channeling disputes between them into agreed-upon fora for peaceful settlement?

These two types of purpose are often treated as complementary, with international institutions like the World Trade Organization (WTO) or United Nations often justified on both counts. But they …

Shipping And Climate Change: International Law And Policy Considerations, Aldo Chircop, Meinhard Doelle, Ryan Gauvin

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This report investigates the international law and policy challenges to the determination of the international shipping industry's contribution to climate change mitigation efforts through the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations and the competent intergovernmental organization with respect to shipping in international law. The report sets out the international legal framework that serves as context for the IMO efforts, the challenge of regulating greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping and the process and issues in determining the industry's 'fair share' of mitigation efforts and potential legal pathways. The report concludes with general, policy and legal …

Human Rights Protections In International Supply Chains—Protecting Workers And Managing Company Risk: 2018 Report And Model Contract Clauses From The Working Group To Draft Human Rights Protections In International Supply Contracts, Aba Section Of Business Law, David Snyder

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

This report and the model contract clauses that it contains are an effort to help companies provide legally effective and operationally likely human rights protections for workers in international supply chains. The report is the product of the Working Group to Draft Human Rights Protections in International Supply Contracts, which is a unit of the American Bar Association Business Law Section. After identifying the problems, such as human trafficking and factory collapses as well as developing compliance obligations under federal, state, and foreign law, the report explains the difficulty of drafting legally effective clauses. Most of the issues result from …

Separation Of Trade Law Powers, Kathleen Claussen

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Other Trade War, Kathleen Claussen

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Blurring Of The Public/Private Distinction Or The Collapse Of A Category? The Story Of Investment Arbitration, Guillermo J. Garcia Sanchez

Faculty Scholarship

The paper is a response piece to Deborah Hensler and Damira Khatam’s new article, Re-inventing Arbitration: How Expanding the Scope of Arbitration Is Re-Shaping Its Form and Blurring the Line Between Private and Public Adjudication. Their main argument regarding the public-private distinction is that the arbitral procedure has changed as a consequence of the substantive issues resolved in this particular ADR system. According to them the arbitral system, which was originally conceived for commercial purposes, has become another way of litigating public law, but without the accountability mechanisms attached to public courts. In this paper, I agree in large part …

Justifying India's Patent Position To The United States International Trade Commission And Office Of The United States Trade Representative, Sean Flynn, Srividhya Ragavan, Brook Baker

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Socially Responsible Corporate Ip, J. Janewa Oseitutu

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Many companies practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) as part of their branding and public relations efforts. As part of their CSR strategies, some companies adopt voluntary codes of conduct in an effort to respect human rights. This Article contemplates the application of CSR principles to trade-related intellectual property (IP). In theory, patent and copyright laws promote progress and innovation, which is why IP rights are beneficial for both IP owners and for the public. Trademark rights encourage businesses to maintain certain standards and allow consumers to make more efficient choices. Though IP rights are often discussed in relation to the …

Corporate Culture And Competition Compliance In East Asia, Jingyuan Ma, Mel Marquis

South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business

No abstract provided.

Dispute Settlement Under The Next Generation Of Free Trade Agreements, Kathleen Claussen

Articles

No abstract provided.

Old Wine In New Bottles? The Trade Rule Of Law, Kathleen Claussen

Articles

No abstract provided.

Protecting The Mickey Mouse Ears: Moving Beyond Traditional Campaign-Style Enforcement Of Intellectual Property Rights In China, Adela Hurtado

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Multinational corporations often struggle to protect their intellectual property rights in China. The Walt Disney Company, which has a long relationship with China, knows this all too well. In fact, counterfeit Mickey Mouse ears—along with numerous other Disney character goods—are now sold in plain sight at the new Shanghai Disneyland Resort. In an attempt to combat counterfeiting, companies such as Disney rely on a traditional method of enforcement of intellectual property rights: government campaigns. Campaigns are short periods of time during which multiple raids and government enforcement actions occur to crack down on counterfeiting. The irony of Disney’s situation is …

Applied Anti-Semitism: The Bds Movement And The Abuse Of Corporate Social Responsibility, Alexander B. Traum

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Temporary Restraining Orders To Enforce Intellectual Property Rights At Trade Shows: An Empirical Study, Marketa Trimble

Scholarly Works

Infringements of intellectual property (IP) rights by exhibitors at trade shows (also called trade fairs or exhibitions), such as infringements committed through exhibitions of or offers to sell infringing products, can be extremely damaging to IP right owners because of the wide exposure that trade shows provide for infringing IP; the promotion of the infringing IP and the contacts made by infringers at trade shows can facilitate further infringements after a trade show that can be very difficult for IP right owners to prevent. IP right owners therefore seek to obtain emergency injunctive relief to stop trade show infringements immediately—if …

Mending The Wound Or Pulling It Apart? New Proposals For International Investment Courts And Fragmentation Of International Investment Law, Jaemin Lee

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Robust discussions on standing investment courts are currently taking place at various fora. In particular, negotiations to include bilateral investment courts in IIAs are in full swing and leading to the creation of such courts. On the other hand, negotiation for a multilateral investment court has yet to start. Even if negotiation begins, it is not clear how long it will take and whether it will indeed lead to a successful conclusion. As such, for a significant amount of time in the future, it is bilateral investment courts that states administer to resolve investment disputes. Bilateral investment courts, however, will …

A Blueprint For A New American Trade Policy, Timothy Meyer, Ganesh Sitaraman

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In recent years, it has become clear that American trade policy needs to change. For decades, U.S. policy has reflected the implicit assumption that trade liberalization is beneficial for everyone, with few distributional downsides over time. But this assumption hasn’t been borne out. Instead, decades of trade liberalization have led to a backlash that resulted in both 2016 presidential nominees opposing the Obama Administration’s proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). And since 2017, President Donald Trump has begun a trade war with China; raised tariffs on the grounds of protecting national security; renegotiated NAFTA, though on terms that do not obviously …

Regulatory Cooperation In International Trade And Its Transformative Effects On Executive Power, Elizabeth Trujillo

Faculty Scholarship

As international trade receives the brunt of local discontent with globalization trends and recent changes by the Trump administration have put into question the viability of such trade arrangements moving forward, there has been a clear trend in using international trade fora for managing regulatory barriers on economic development. This paper will discuss this recent trend in international trade toward increased regulatory cooperation through the creation of formalized transnational regulatory bodies, such as the U.S.-EU Regulatory Cooperation Body that was being discussed in the TTIP negotiations and comparable ones in the Canadian-EU Trade Agreement as well as U.S.-Mexico and U.S.- …