Though the definition varies (go here), a patent troll generally is thought of as a person or entity that buys patents and then enforces the patents through litigation against accused infringers to collect licensing fees. The troll has no intent to exploit the patent for itself — that is, no plan to use the patent […]
Law professors Anthony Casey and Eric Posner attempt to answer that question in A Framework for Bailout Regulation. Here is the abstract: During the height of the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, the government bailed out numerous corporations, including banks, investment banks, and automobile manufacturers. While the bailouts helped end the financial crisis, they […]
By guest blogger Peter A. Holland In a time of limited resources, perhaps a new model is emerging of joint CFPB/State Attorney General enforcement actions. The recent joint action by the Bureau and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh provides a nice case study. Recently, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau […]
Cynthia R. Farina, Mary Newhart, and Cheryl L. Blake, all of Cornell, have written The Problem with Words: Plain Language and Public Participation in Rulemaking, George Washington Law Review (2015 Forthcoming). Here's the abstract: The connection between more understandable rulemaking materials and broader, better public participation seems obvious, Yet the series of Presidential and statutory […]
by Jeff Sovern As law students, law professors, and lawyers know, most law reviews are edited by law students, which means that law students select the articles that appear in their journals. The prime submission season is just underway, and so newly-minted law review editors—most in their second year of law school—are choosing among the […]
by Paul Alan Levy The Appellate Division in New York has today affirmed the denial of a pre-litigation petition brought by Woodbridge Structured Funding seeking to compel Opinion Corp. to provide identifying information about the authors of two critical consumer reviews on its Pissed Consumer site.
The latest Obamacare challenge, now pending before the Supreme Court, could if successful cost the states a lot of money. How much? Read the Post's analysis, complete with a state-by-state breakdown and a discussion of its possible implications for the outcome of the case, here.
We recently filed an amicus brief about the standards for subpoenas identifying anonymous Internet users accused of defamatory or otherwise wrongful communications in a surprising venue – the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The underlying case was filed in the Western District of Washington by Macao Music Group, an offshore […]
By Dee Pridgen The ABA Consumer Protection Conference held February 12 on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., focused on the work of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as well as the work of advertising self-regulatory bodies, especially in the areas of big data and the “Internet of Things.” FTC Chair […]
At a hearing on Capitol Hill last week, lawmakers from both parties expressed interest in exempting small banks and credit unions from new financial rules, reported the Wall St. Journal. But there must be a limit, warned two of the committee’s most pro-consumer voices: Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the top Democrat on the powerful […]