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Efficient Definition And Communication Of Patent Rights: The Importance Of Ex Post Delineation, William Hubbard
Efficient Definition And Communication Of Patent Rights: The Importance Of Ex Post Delineation, William Hubbard
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As with any area of law, rights and duties relating to patents should be clearly communicated in an efficient manner. Unfortunately, uncertainty concerning the scope of the rights granted by patents frequently results in expensive litigation. Most proposals for reducing this uncertainty do not examine its root causes and focus only on measures to provide additional clarification in patent applications. Such ex ante proposals are often inefficient because considerable uncertainty is inherent, given the limits of language and of our ability to foresee future developments. In addition, ex ante clarification often would be wasteful because so few patents are valuable …
How The Merits Matter: Directors' And Officers' Insurance And Securities Settlements, Tom Baker, Sean J. Griffith
How The Merits Matter: Directors' And Officers' Insurance And Securities Settlements, Tom Baker, Sean J. Griffith
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This Article seeks what may be the holy grail of securities law scholarship—the role of the “merits” in securities class actions—by investigating the relationship between settlements and directors’ and officers’ (D&O) liability insurance. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with plaintiffs’ and defense lawyers, D&O insurance claims managers, monitoring counsel, brokers, mediators, and testifying experts, we elucidate the key factors influencing settlement and examine the relationship between these factors and notions of merit in civil litigation. We find that, although securities settlements are influenced by some factors that are arguably merit related, such as the “sex appeal” of a claim’s liability elements, …