Marketing Law Commons^™

Double Dosing: How Brand-Name Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Manipulate Patent Rules To Extend Market Exclusivity, Elizabeth Hertzberg

Washington and Lee Law Review

A robust patent system is important for spurring innovation, but it is not without risk. Because a patent owner has exclusivity over the patented subject matter for a specific term, there is incentive to extend that monopoly however possible. Identical subject matter is unpatentable, but obvious variants of an existing patent may be allowed if the applicant agrees to the same expiration date for both patents. This agreement is called a terminal disclaimer. While patents tied together with terminal disclaimers may not necessarily lead to unjust patent term extensions, an army of terminal disclaimers directed at one invention presents a …

Under The Influence: Duties, Deception, Disclosures, And Due Diligence Of Social Media Influencers, Arianna Kiaei

Washington and Lee Law Review

The encroachment of social media into the daily lives of society reflects a major shift in consumer behavior. As social media moves from providing platforms of narrow connectivity among friends and family to social connection beyond one’s personal network, novel channels are being formed for consumers to absorb and share information. It opens opportunity for corporations to market their products beyond traditional methods and establishes the “influencer” sharing personal thoughts and recommendations on such products.

Social media’s immense purchasing power has a direct effect on the decision-making processes of individuals and the profit margins of corporations, and thus, the capacity …

Diligent Influence, Carrie Stanton

Washington and Lee Law Review

Social media influencers wield astonishing marketing power. While influencing may be innocuous in some respects, scholars have argued that influencer marketing—which is uniquely high-touch, individualized, and intimate—raises novel consumer safety concerns. These concerns, in turn, beg crucial questions of risk allocation. In her excellent Note, Under the Influence: Duties, Deception, Disclosures, and Due Diligence of Social Media Influencers, Arianna Kiaei describes the psychological and economic impacts of social media influencing and makes a compelling case for influencer accountability. Kiaei argues that current regulations focus too narrowly on the companies promoting their products through influencers; instead, Kiaei suggests that the robust …

Consolidating The Diffuse Paths To Trade Dress Functionality: Encountering Traffix On The Way To Sears, Margreth Barrett

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

The "Persuasion Route" Of The Law: Advertising And Legal Persuasion, Sarah C. Haan

Scholarly Articles

Persuasive commercial messages--advertisements--dominate our experience of persuasion in contemporary American life. In the past quarter century, the commercial landscape has witnessed significant change in the volume, styles, and strategies of advertising. In particular, this Note argues that modern advertising contains little information about products and services, and that rational processing of information has become less important to consumer decisionmaking. At the same time, advertising research shows that consumers do not seek out or use product information contained in advertisements, and that less-informative advertising may actually be more persuasive than advertising containing a lot of information. This Note argues that changes …

Regulation Of Prescription Drug Discount Advertising

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.