Law Commons^™

Greeted With A Shrug: The Impact Of The Community Design System On United States Law, Stacey Dogan

Faculty Scholarship

In an era of increased harmonization of intellectual property laws worldwide, the United States’ treatment of product design looks like an anomaly. Since the European Community Design System went into effect in 2002, advocates in the US have urged Congress to follow suit and adopt sui generis design protection, particularly for fashion. The US Congress, however, has resisted the call and left design protection to the existing standards of trademark, copyright and design patent law.

This Chapter explores some of the reasons that the Community Design System has had so little purchase in US debates over design. The rejection of …

Can Rationing Through Inconvenience Be Ethical?, Nir Eyal, Paul Romain, Christopher Robertson

Faculty Scholarship

In this article, we provide a comprehensive analysis and a normative assessment of rationing through inconvenience as a form of rationing. By “rationing through inconvenience” in the health sphere, we refer to a non-financial burden (the inconvenience) that is either intended to cause or has the effect of causing patients or clinicians to choose an option for health‐related consumption that is preferred by the health system for its fairness, efficiency, or other distributive desiderata beyond assisting the immediate patient. We argue that under certain conditions, rationing through inconvenience may turn out to serve as a legitimate and, compared to direct …

Using The Public Nuisance Doctrine To Combat Antibiotic Resistance, Amanda Purcell

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Not De Minimis: (Improper) Appropriation In Copyright, Oren Bracha

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reform Of Section 355, Bret Wells

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Political Question Doctrines, John Harrison

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Construction Of A Terrorist Under The Material Support Statute, 18 U.S.C § 2339b, Jordan E. Helton

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Improving Regulatory Analysis At Independent Agencies, Cary Coglianese

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

De Facto Parent And Non Parent Child Support Orders, Jeffrey A. Parness, Matthew Timko

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Makeup Dupes And Fair Use, Samantha Primeaux

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Data Localization The Unintended Consequences Of Privacy Litigation, H Jacqueline Brehmer

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Half-Century Of Scholarship On The Chinese Intellectual Property System, Peter K. Yu

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

2017 Government Contract Law Decisions Of The Federal Circuit, Dennis J. Callahan, Lauren B. Kramer, Lucas T. Hanback, Stephen L. Bacon

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

2017 International Trade Law Decisions Of The Federal Circuit, Kevin J. Fandl

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fear-Based Provocation, Michal Buchhandler-Raphael

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Inadequate Accessibility: Why Uber Should Be A Public Accommodation Under The Americans With Disabilities Act, Elizabeth A. Mapelli

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Indian Country And The Territory Clause: Washington's Promise At The Framing, John Hayden Dossett

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Demise Of Drug Design Litigation; Death By Federal Preemption, Aaron D. Twerski

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Beyond Balancing: Rethinking The Law Of Embryo Disposition, Mary Ziegler

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Using The Supreme Court's Enigmatic Commerce Clause Holding In Sebelius To Challenge Congress's Broken Renewable Fuel Standard, Corey J. Walker

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Extending Federal Rule Of Civil Procedure 4 (K) (2): A Way To (Partially) Clean Up The Personal Jurisdiction Mess, Patrick J. Borchers

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why Salman Is A Game-Changer For The Political Intelligence Industry, Kendall R. Pauley

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Extending Federal Rule Of Civil Procedure 4(K)(2): A Way To (Partially) Clean Up The Personal Jurisdiction Mess, Patrick J. Borchers

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why Salman Is A Game-Changer For The Political Intelligence Industry, Kendall R. Pauley

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Interpreting Contracts Without Context, John Coyle, W. Mark C. Weidemaier

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Macpherson-Henningsen Puzzle, Victor P. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

In the landmark case of MacPherson v. Buick, an automobile company was held liable for negligence notwithstanding a lack of privity with the injured driver. Four decades later, in Henningsen v. Bloomfield Motors, the court held unconscionable the standard automobile company warranty which limited its responsibility to repair and replacement, even in a case involving physical injury. This suggests a puzzle: if it were so easy for firms to contract out of liability, did MacPherson accomplish anything?

Appraisal Arbitrage And Shareholder Value, Scott Callahan, Darius Palia, Eric L. Talley

Faculty Scholarship

Post-merger appraisal rights have been the focus of heated controversy within mergers and acquisitions circles in recent years. Traditionally perceived as an arcane and cabalistic proceeding, the appraisal action has recently come to occupy center stage through the ascendancy of appraisal arbitrage — whereby investors purchase target-company shares shortly after an announcement principally to pursue appraisal. Such strategies became more feasible and profitable a decade ago, on the heels of two seemingly technocratic reforms in Delaware: (i) the statutory codification of pre-judgment interest, pegging a presumptive rate at five percent above the federal discount rate; and (ii) the Transkaryotic opinion, …

Intellectual Property As Seen By Barbie And Mickey: The Reciprocal Relationship Of Copyright And Trademark Law, Jane C. Ginsburg

Faculty Scholarship

Some years ago, caselaw on trademark parodies and similar unauthorized “speech” uses of trademarks could have led one to conclude that the law had no sense of humor. Over time, however, courts in the US and elsewhere began to leaven likelihood of confusion analyses with healthy skepticism regarding consumers’ alleged inability to perceive a joke. These decisions did not always expressly cite the copyright fair use defense, but the considerations underlying the copyright doctrine seemed to inform trademark analysis as well. The spillover effect may indeed have been inevitable, as several of the cases in which the fair use defense …

Is The First Amendment Obsolete?, Tim Wu

Faculty Scholarship

The First Amendment was brought to life in a period, the twentieth century, when the political speech environment was markedly different than today’s. With respect to any given issue, speech was scarce and limited to a few newspapers, pamphlets or magazines. The law was embedded, therefore, with the presumption that the greatest threat to free speech was direct punishment of speakers by government.

Today, in the internet and social media age, it is no longer speech that is scarce – rather, it is the attention of listeners. And those who seek to control speech use new methods that rely on …

Consequential Damages And Exclusion Clauses, Victor P. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

Contracts often include language excluding compensation for consequential damages. However, the boundary between consequential and direct damages is a blurry one. Courts have used concepts like foreseeability, natural result of the breach, and collateral business in their attempts to define the boundary. Those categories, I argue, are not particularly helpful. I consider three classes of cases: wrongful termination, delay, and breach of warranty. This paper argues that lost profits, when referring to the change in value of the contract after a wrongful termination would be direct damages; the hard case involves terminated dealers who had been paid indirectly for retailing …