Antitrust and Trade Regulation Commons^™

Hostile Takeovers And Overreliance, Anthony Niblett

Seattle University Law Review

Commentators have argued that employees should be compensated in the event of a hostile takeover; otherwise, the threat of such a takeover will fail to incentivize firm-specific investments by employees. Such deferred compensation is analogous to the payment of damages following a breach of contract. The analogous breach, here, is the breach of an implicit contract between management and employees. Employees trusted management to compensate them for firm-specific investments not explicitly contracted for. This Article uses a familiar result from the contract law literature: There is no measure of damages for breach of contract that can generate both efficient breach …

Litigating Consumer Protection Acts In The Hamp Context, Amanda Martin

Seattle University Law Review

The foreclosure crisis has lingered despite the improving economy. To alleviate this crisis, the U.S. government implemented the Home Affordable Mortgage Program (HAMP), a Treasury-sponsored initiative that aims to prevent foreclosure by encouraging mortgage loan servicers to modify the mortgages of qualified homeowners. The Treasury Department has extended HAMP multiple times—from its original ending date in 2013 to its present ending date in 2016. While HAMP has indeed helped homeowners avoid foreclosure, the program has spawned an array of litigation as servicer misconduct runs rampant. As the Ninth Circuit recently noted, “the [HAMP] program seems to have created more litigation …

Team Production & The Multinational Enterprise, Virginia Harper Ho

Seattle University Law Review

Margaret Blair and Lynn Stout’s path-breaking article, A Team Production Theory of Corporate Law, advances a dual thesis: first, that team production theory does a better job than its competitors (in particular, principal–agent theory) of explaining the advantages of the public corporation and key features of corporate law; and second, that, as a matter of corporate law, corporate boards are charged with advancing the collective interest of all the contributors to the corporate enterprise rather than the shareholders’ interests alone. Its central insight is that the role of the independent, or insulated, corporate board is to serve as a “mediating …

Team Production And Securities Laws, Urska Velikonja

Seattle University Law Review

In the seminal paper that this symposium celebrates, A Team Production Theory of Corporate Law, Margaret Blair and Lynn Stout made two related points. First, that Delaware law does not require shareholder primacy in public corporations. Rather, the broad deference afforded to the decisions of predominantly independent corporate boards of directors is consistent with a contrary theory, that of team production, or, as they call it, “the mediating hierarch” theory. The fundamental role of the board of directors is to mediate between the interests of various stakeholders that contribute to the corporation’s output. As a result, Delaware courts have repeatedly …

Should The Internet Exempt The Media Sector From The Antitrust Laws?, Thomas J. Horton, Robert H. Lande

Florida Law Review

This Article will demonstrate that concern over the potential harms from media mergers can best be expressed not in terms of price, cost, savings or efficiency, but rather in terms of consumer choice with regard to the perspectives quality, and varieties of approaches to news coverage. Indeed, competition in terms of the quality and variety of offerings is crucial in this sector. These non-price attributes, rather than price or cost competition, should be the focus of market definition and other issues of antitrust concern for media cases. This Article focuses its analysis on newspapers, but much of the analysis also …

The New Global Financial Regulatory Order: Can Macroprudential Regulation Prevent Another Global Financial Disaster?, Behzad Gohari, Karen E. Woody

Scholarly Articles

This Article posits that the success of macroprudential regulation will depend on four factors. First, the economic philosophy of the central banker in charge of the domestic institution with jurisdiction over macroprudential regulation will prove crucial in the implementation of adopted regulation. If, like Chairman Greenspan, the banker is averse to the exercise of the Central Bank's regulatory oversight authority, then no amount or volume of policy or regulation will prevent or mitigate systemic risks and the accompanying shocks. Second, a sufficiently deep level of international cooperation is required to mitigate regulatory arbitrage, without being so broad that the ensuing …

The Extraterritorial Reach Of United States Securities Actions After Morrison V. National Australian Bank, Nathan Lee

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

Nsfw: An Empirical Study Of Scandalous Trademarks, Megan M. Carpenter, Mary Garner

Law Faculty Scholarship

This project is an empirical analysis of trademarks that have received rejections based on their “scandalous” nature. It is the first of its kind.

The Lanham Act bars registration for trademarks that are “scandalous” and “immoral.” While much has been written on the morality provisions in the Lanham Act, this piece is the first scholarly project that engages an empirical analysis of the Section 2(a) rejections based on scandalousness; it contains a look behind the scenes at how the morality provisions are applied throughout the trademark registration process. This study analyzes which marks are being rejected, what evidence is being …

Financial Market Bottlenecks And The 'Openness' Mandate, Felix B. Chang

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Financial market infrastructures (“FMIs”), which facilitate the execution of financial transactions, exhibit such strong economies of scale that they are natural monopolies. In each market, production is controlled by a few dominant players. Federal courts have traditionally checked the abuses of natural monopolies under the Sherman Act. Yet recent Supreme Court decisions have reined in the role of antitrust in regulated industries, where administrative bodies set and enforce standards. To this effect, financial regulations require certain FMIs to grant open, nondiscriminatory access to users.

This Article argues that weak “openness” regulations must be buttressed by their antitrust counterpart — specifically, …

Corporate Governance In Search Of The Shareholder-Manager Balance Of Power, Razeen Sappideen

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

Zakaz Nadużywania Pozycji Dominującej Na Rynkach Telekomunikacyjnych W Prawie Unii Europejskiej, Konrad Stolarski

Monografie CARS/CARS Monographs

Przedmiot publikacji obejmuje problematykę funkcjonowania zakazu nadużywania pozycji dominującej na rynkach telekomunikacyjnych w prawie Unii Europejskiej. Stanowi ona pogłębioną, kompleksową analizę powyższej instytucji, która ukierunkowana jest na wyjaśnienie problemów, które mogą pojawiać się w związku z jej funkcjonowaniem w praktyce. Co do zasady, punktem odniesienia dla analizy jest prawo Unii Europejskiej, niemniej dla celów komparatystycznych autor podejmuje się również ustalenia w jaki sposób podobne regulacje funkcjonują w systemach prawnych Polski oraz wybranych państw członkowskich. Głównym celem pracy jest wykazanie w jaki sposób specyficzna natura ściśle regulowanych rynków telekomunikacyjnych wpływa na stosowanie instytucji prawa konkurencji, a w szczególności art. 102 TFUE. …

Right To Defence In Eu Competition Law; The Case Of Inspections, Marta Michałek

Monografie CARS/CARS Monographs

Praca stanowi dysertację doktorską obronioną przez autorkę na Uniwersytecie we Fryburgu (Szwajcaria) w 2015 r. W książce przeanalizowana została kwestia ochrony prawa przedsiębiorców do obrony w ramach inspekcji przeprowadzonych przez Komisję Europejską. Ocena poziomu ochrony przyznawanej 978-83-63962-86-9przedsiębiorcom dokonana została na podstawie porównania (i) obecnego porządku prawnego UE i podejścia przyjętego przez Trybunał Sprawiedliwości Unii Europejskiej z (ii) ochroną zapewnioną przez Europejską Konwencję Praw Człowieka i standardami określonymi przez Europejski Trybunał Praw Człowieka w tej kwestii. Analiza obejmuje następujące zagadnienia: charakterystykę prawa do obrony, najbardziej istotne międzynarodowe (zwłaszcza europejskie) systemy lub akty prawne wprowadzające ochronę prawa do obrony, uprawnienia kontrolne Komisji, …

O'Bannon V. National Collegiate Athletic Association: A Cinderella Story, Meghan Rose Price

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Customs Law, Jennifer Diaz, Brandi B. Frederick, Shannon Fura, Yankun Guo, Jamie Joiner, Greg Kanargelidis, Daniel L. Kiselbach, Ryan Mcclure, Bethany Nelson, Rebecca A. Rodriguez, David Salkeld, Trice Stabler, Cyndee Todgham-Cherniak, Nghia "Neo" T. Tran, George Tuttle Iii, Luis Valdez Jimenez, Vicky Wu

The International Lawyer

This article summarizes important developments in 2014 in customs law, including U.S. judicial decisions, trade, legislative, administrative, and executive developments, as well as Canadian and European legal developments.

Living With Monsanto, 2015 Mich. St. L. Rev. 559 (2015), Daryl Lim

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

Bowman v. Monsanto Co. signaled the end of an era of seed saving. Farmers must buy new seed for replanting or risk patent infringement. The familiar rhetoric of oppressed farmers belies the fact that Monsanto’s success rests in part on farmers prizing its innovations. Current trends indicate that this reliance on Monsanto will continue. The Supreme Court correctly found for Monsanto. However, future cases must iron out the kinks in the Bowman decision. Despite the Court’s best intentions, inadvertence cannot shield farmers from patent infringement. The Court must also make it clear that patentees cannot use licensing restrictions to claw …

How Not To Apply The Rule Of Reason: The O’Bannon Case, Michael A. Carrier

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

The case of O’Bannon v. NCAA has received significant attention. On behalf of a class of student-athletes, former college basketball star Ed O’Bannon sued the NCAA, challenging rules that prohibited payment for the use of names, images, and likenesses (NILs) in videogames, live game telecasts, and other footage. A Ninth Circuit panel, in a 2-1 decision, found that this restraint had anticompetitive effects and procompetitive justifications. And it considered “less restrictive alternatives,” upholding payment for incidental educational expenses beyond tuition and fees, room and board, and required books, but rejecting a deferred $5,000 payment for NILs. Straddling the intersection of …

Patent Punting: How Fda And Antitrust Courts Undermine The Hatch-Waxman Act To Avoid Dealing With Patents, Rebecca S. Eisenberg, Daniel A. Crane

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Under the Hatch-Waxman Act, patent law and FDA regulation work together to determine the timing of generic entry in the market for drugs. But FDA has sought to avoid any responsibility for reading patents, insisting that its role in administering the patent provisions of the Hatch-Waxman Act is purely ministerial. This gap in regulatory oversight has allowed innovators to use irrelevant patents to defer generic competition. Meanwhile, patent litigation has set the stage for anticompetitive settlements rather than adjudication of the patent issues in the courts. As these settlements have provoked antitrust litigation, antitrust courts have proven no more willing …

The Once And Future Irrelevancy Of Section 12(G), Usha Rodrigues

Scholarly Works

Among more fundamental reforms, the JOBS ACt of 2012 amended Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act and sought to increase the number of shareholders (from 500 to 2000) that a firm must have before it must make public disclosures. Argument on the floor of Congress focused on the undue burden the provision placed on companies. This Article examines data that invalidates those anecdotal concerns.

Indeed, the data reveal important insights: First, my hand-collected dataset shows that, contrary to public concerns about Section 12(g)'s onerous burdens, it only affects a few firms - (less than three percent of those going …

The Keystone Xl Pipeline And The Dormant Commerce Clause: Would Action By Congress Preclude Adequate Environmental Regulation At The State Level?, S. Shane Stroud

Utah Law Review

The Commerce Clause significantly limits the ability of States and localities to regulate or otherwise burden the flow of interstate commerce, but it does not elevate free trade above all other values. As long as a State does not needlessly obstruct interstate trade or attempt to place itself in a position of economic isolation, it retains broad regulatory authority to protect the health and safety of its citizens and the integrity of its natural resources.

Judges Are Not ‘Super-Referees’: Why A Qualified Statutory Exemption To The Sherman Act Is Needed To Reform The Ncaa And Its Exploitive Amateur Model, 49 J. Marshall L. Rev. 125 (2015), Christopher Sweeney

UIC Law Review

This Comment will analyze the historical application of antitrust laws to the rules and regulations of the NCAA and argue that, in light of a recent shift in judicial treatment, the next round of antitrust litigation threatens to destroy the entire NCAA model.