Commercial Law Commons^™

Interpreting Gobbledygook Under 35 U.S.C. § 101: Does The 2019 Patent Eligibility Guidance Clarify Past Confusion?, Nicole Bruner

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Remains Of The Ftc's Enforcement Power After Ftc V. Credit Bureau?, Robert Sommers

Dissertations and Honors Papers

This Comment begins with an introduction of the different enforcement provisions available to the Federal Trade Commission and provides a brief history on the FTC’s use of Section 13(b). Specifically, this Comment focuses on the Seventh Circuit’s opinion in FTC v. Credit Bureau and argues that the court, despite overturning long-standing precedent, got it right. The Comment concludes by addressing the future implications of the Credit Bureau decision on FTC enforcement mechanisms and strategies.

Mechanisms For Consultation And Free, Prior And Informed Consent In The Negotiation Of Investment Contracts, Sam Szoke-Burke, Kaitlin Cordes

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Investor-state contracts are regularly used in low- and middle-income countries to grant concessions for land-based and natural resource investments, such as agricultural, extractive industry, forestry, or renewable energy projects. These contracts are rarely negotiated in the presence of, or with meaningful input from, the people who risk being adversely affected by the project. This practice will usually risk violating requirements for meaningful consultation, and, where applicable, free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), and is particularly concerning when the investor-state contract gives the investor company rights to lands or resources over which local communities have legitimate claims.

This article explores how …

Crowding Out Theory: Protecting Shareholders By Balancing Executives’ Incentives In France, The United States, & China, Palden Flynn

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This paper explores the differences between executive compensation regimes in France, the United States, and China. It asks whether there is a link between state regulation of real options as a form of executive compensation and state regulation of shareholder protections. This paper argues that if a country regulates the use of real options as compensation, then that country is also more likely to have strong shareholder protection laws. This argument seems to be true based on a descriptive review of executive compensation law and shareholder protections in France, the United States, and China.

If it is true that countries …

Authorization Of Discovery In International Commercial Arbitration: Demystifying The Sixth Circuit’S Statutory Construction Of 28 U.S.C. § 1782(A), Jason Arendt

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Investments And Security: Balancing International Commerce And National Security With Expanded Authority For The Committee On Foreign Investment In The United States, Christopher Jusuf

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

What happens when the interests of international trade conflict with those of national security? This article analyzes this question within the context of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an obscure but increasingly powerful executive panel that exercises the president's broad authority to unilaterally interfere with and stop international mergers and acquisitions. With the passage of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), CFIUS is more powerful now than it has ever been, and should be a key consideration for any company seeking to do business with foreign investors. This is especially true as America …

Pre-Game Strategy For Long-Term Win: Using Trademark Registration And Right Of Publicity To Protect Esports Gamers, John Bat

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

The soaring popularity of esports across the globe has turned ultra-talented gamers into a blend of athlete and entertainer. The youthful esports ecosystem is exploding in growth, and the world is taking notice. But are the gamers who are eyeing professional play taking basic legal steps to develop and shield their brands, as well as bolster their collective negotiating leverage with teams, leagues, and miscellaneous entities? This note explores what features of an up-and-coming esports gamer might be worth protecting through a trademark and/or personality-rights schema, which in turn, could assist competitive gamers who are interested in developing their careers …

Identifying Fundamental Breach Of Articles 25 And 49 Of The Cisg: The Good Faith Duty Of Collaborative Efforts To Cure Defects - Make The Parties Draw A Line In The Sand Of Substantiality, Yasutoshi Ishida

Michigan Journal of International Law

Article 49(1) of the CISG allows buyers of international goods to avoid their sales contracts “if the failure by the seller to perform . . . amounts to a fundamental breach.” A breach is “fundamental,” as defined by CISG article 25, when it causes the buyer such detriment “as substantially to deprive him of what he is entitled to expect under the contract.” This definition is followed by the so-called “foreseeability test,” an “unless” clause that excepts the situation where “the party in breach did not foresee[,] and a reasonable person of the same kind in the same circumstances would …

In Memory Of Professor James E. Bond, Janet Ainsworth

Seattle University Law Review

Janet Ainsworth, Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law: In Memory of Professor James E. Bond.

Lessons About Franchise Risk From Yum Brands And Schlotzsky’S, Robert W. Emerson, Lawrence J. Trautman

Lewis & Clark Law Review

This Article presents YUM! Brands, Inc. disclosure information and valuable insight into the risks of starting a business that shares intellectual property with another party. YUM is the parent of entities such as KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, with locations around the world. YUM is particularly useful for our analysis because of its mature operating concepts.

Sandwich shop franchisor and operator Schlotzsky’s, Inc. presents a different aspect of shareholder and franchisee risk. The facts leading up to Schlotzsky’s bankruptcy filing represent what can go wrong with undercapitalized franchise operations and illustrate that franchising is inherently risky for anyone.

This …

Shadow Credit And The Devolution Of Consumer Credit Regulation, Nathalie Martin, Lydia Pizzonia

Lewis & Clark Law Review

Shadow credit is trending. Shadow credit has all the essential attributes of regular credit except that it is unregulated. It operates in a world in which products and services that look, act, and feel like credit products are deemed to be something that is not actually credit. This legal sidestep is accomplished either by passing industry-friendly legislation or by tweaking the shadow credit product just enough to not be defined as credit, but “something else.” That “something else” is often called a “lease,” an “advance,” or in the case of After- pay, simply a “service.” At its essence, however, it …

Monetary Consequences Of Environmental Regulations: Costs Of Doing Business Or Non-Deductible Penalties Or Fines?, Daniel P. Fernandez, Alex R. Figares, H. Cecil

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Long Live The Golden Summer: Arbitration, Courts, & Colas, L. Yves Fortier

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Avenue For Fairness: Disclosure-Based Compensation Schemes For Good Faith Purchasers Of Stolen Art, Caroline Harvey

Georgia Law Review

Art theft occurs regularly around the world, and each
year stolen works of art are funneled into the
international art market. While the United States boasts
the world’s largest art market, it is also home to the
biggest market of illegal art. Longstanding principles of
property law are unfavorable to unwitting good faith
purchasers of stolen art, who are often forced to return
works to true owners at great financial loss. This Note
explores the legal implications of purchasing a stolen
work of art in the United States and the equities
associated with defenses available to good faith
purchasers. In …

The Twentieth Century Cowboy: Law's Light Touch, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Resolving The Crowdfunding Conundrum: The Experience Of The United States And Spain, Rafael A. Porrata-Doria Jr.

American University Business Law Review

The phenomenon known as crowdfunding has become an attractive alternative for businesses looking for investors without having to go through more well-established routes or without necessarily having to lure and impress professional investors. However, this new form of raising capital creates a series of issues and problems unique to crowdfunding, which has led to a struggle amongst governments to effectively regulate this new entrepreneurial opportunity. The crowdfunding conundrum government regulators are facing causes them to have to reconcile two contradictory missions: facilitating the acquisition of capital by businesses and protecting investors (and the market) from fraud and manipulation. This Article …

Commercial Transportation, Madeline E. Mcneeley, Yvonne S. Godfrey, T. Peyton Bell, Stephen G. Lowry

Mercer Law Review

Commercial transportation involves all of the significant forms of passenger and freight transportation across the United States. This Article surveys significant judicial and legislative developments in Georgia commercial-transportation law during the period from June 1, 2017 through May 31, 2019.

Three of the areas discussed here—commercial motor vehicles, aviation, and rail—are subject to heavy federal regulation due to their large effects on interstate commerce. Accordingly, motor-carrier and railroad law primarily saw developments pertaining to state procedure and in the interactions between state and federal law, while state aviation law primarily focused on Georgia’s efforts both to regulate and facilitate the …

Corporations Hybrid: A Covid Case Study On Innovation In Business Law Pedagogy, Seth C. Oranburg, David D. Tamasy

Law Faculty Publications

This Article is about using "asynchronous" online technology synergistically with in-class experiences and "synchronous" livedistance education sessions. It focuses on creating instructional videos because great videos are essential for online learning.¹ This Article also discusses creating digital teaching assets for active learning such as formative assessments, learning journals, and discussion boards.

The authors of this paper are a law professor and his former student and teaching assistant. We worked together for two years to innovate and implement many technological enhancements in Corporations class. We created and deployed a "Hybrid" course in which students performed "asynchronous" technology-mediated learning activities before …

Cyber Insurance Today: Saving It Before It Needs Saving, Angela Nieves

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Cyber insurance, which covers a company’s losses and costs stemming from a cyberattack, represents a nearly $5 billion global market. But have stakeholders shaped a sustainable model? This article analyzes contrasting claims about the viability of cyber insurance. It proposes measures to ensure the survival of the cyber insurance market, which should be immediately addressed given the current state of the world and the fact that even pre-COVID-19, businesses worldwide stood to lose over $5.2 trillion over the next five years due to cybercrimes. Unless action is taken to mitigate the fallout from cyber events, the cyber insurance market will …

There Oughta Be A Law: What Corporate Social Responsibility Can Teach Us About Consumer Contract Formation, Colin P. Marks

Faculty Works

This Article examines the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law of Consumer Contracts, with particular focus on Section 2 and its adoption of the rolling contract theory and notice-based assent to standard terms. Tracing the doctrinal roots of this approach to ProCD v. Zeidenberg and its progeny, the Article situates contemporary consumer contract formation within broader debates over assent, efficiency, and fairness in both offline and online transactions. Rather than engaging solely in doctrinal critique, the Article draws on corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature to argue that market forces alone are insufficient to regulate how businesses present standard terms …