Evicted! is a practical and critical look at the vulnerability of Americans' property rights to eminent domain abuse since the Supreme Court's 2005 Kelo decision. The 2005 Supreme Court decision Kelo v. City of New London, which upheld the taking of an individual's home by local government for the sake of private development, unleashed a firestorm of controversy. The backlash against eminent domain cuts across partisan, ideological, and racial lines, with 4 out of 5 Americans opposing Kelo. Critics of Kelo claim that it represents a radical departure in the law, putting every homeowner in jeopardy of dispossession by government at the service of corporate interests. But are property rights and eminent domain truly in mortal conflict? Written for general readers, property owners, and local government officials seeking to understand the implications of Kelo for eminent domain and property law, Evicted! cuts through all the hype and hysteria surrounding Kelo and argues that the alleged wave of eminent domain abuse is mostly a myth. Evicted! describes what property rights are, why the law protects them, and how eminent domain really works. Schultz shows that Kelo did not make new law but only broadened Supreme Court precedents, and he refutes claims that Kelo has opened the way to widespread eminent domain abuse. Nevertheless, the author identifies certain legislative changes that are needed at the local, state, and national levels to better protect individual property owners when corporate thugs and corrupt government officials occasionally gang up against them.

It is scarcely five years since the first edition of this book, a milestone in the strategy-oriented approach to intellectual property at the global level, appeared and was quickly and widely welcomed as virtually an intellectual property agenda for the 21st century. This second edition includes a judicious update of the original data and analysis in light of the significant movement forward that has taken place over the past few years in many of the critical areas that shape the competitive strategies in the use of IP Rights. The authors have lost none of their conviction of the necessity to enhance awareness of the techno-economic effects of intellectual property rights protection on enterprise competitiveness and national growth and development. The book provides a panoramic but detailed view of the world's intellectual property system that embraces socioeconomic, cultural and technological development in its scope, clarifying the pitfalls and challenges that the system presents even as it promises to improve the quality of life on our planet. The authors both internationally respected and honoured for their work in elucidating the economic necessity of an intellectual property system that can inspire universal confidence, emphasize the imperative of international competiveness in knowledge-based technology. In their orderly presentation of the key issues that promote the real benefits (not yet achieved) of a truly effective regime of intellectual property rights they discuss such factors as the following: - the use of intellectual property as an integral part of business strategy; - optimal utilization of intellectual property assets; - the incentives and rewards of 'fair play' in the marketplace; - facilitation of widespread diffusion and adoption of the fruits of creativity and innovation; - the crucial role of small and medium enterprises; - the need at every level for deliberate incentive policies that encourage creativity and invention; - strict enforcement of intellectual property rights; - creating linkages between intellectual property stakeholders; and - use of patent information for forecasting technology trends. These issues and recommendations and more are all discussed in a framework that highlights each of the major areas of knowledge in which intellectual property rights are most insistently invoked today, such as the digital economy, e-commerce, Internet domain names, database protection, protection of plant varieties, design of integrated circuits, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. Ultimately, however, this outstanding work's most important contribution lies in its vision of the organic corporation of governments, institutions, supranational organizations, multinational corporations, small and medium enterprises, and civil society as they collectively fashion a 21st century in which creativity and innovation are enabled to convert knowledge into wealth and social good. For this reason, as well as for its richly detailed treatment of trends and current reality in the field, this new, updated edition of Intellectual Property and Competitive Strategies in the 21st Century will continue to be read and put to good use by business people, international lawyers, government officials, and interested academics in all parts of the world.

"The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law" is a body that comprises leading estate and trusts lawyers from civilian and common law jurisdictions around the globe. Its membership - all experts in trusts, estate and inheritance law, and/or tax law - includes solicitors, barristers, notaires, judges, and law professors. The group's proceedings manifest a comparative approach, offering perspectives on issues of direct and immediate concern for both civil and common law jurisdictions. This volume records the May 2000 week-long conference in Berlin, which focused on four main topics: arbitration and alternative dispute resolution, in which the "estate" meets the "family"; transnational issues in testamentary matters, especially in light of the "Hague Convention on Succession to Deceased Estates"; responsibility of tax advisers, the discussion of which concentrates on the development of a unified code of conduct; and developments in offshore trusts, in which the very nature of the interest of the beneficiary under a trust is being redefined and tested once again.

This book offers a comprehensive and critical evaluation of the distribution and ownership of digital content within the EU. The analysis builds on the debate surrounding 'digital exhaustion' and is focused around three generations of supply of digital content: hardcopy sales, downloads and online access. For each generation, the supplying act and the ability to further transfer what was supplied is scrutinized in the light of EU copyright and neighbouring rights law. Going beyond a description of case law, this book highlights inconsistencies and frictions caused by the CJEU and addresses the fate for novel business models, hybrid works and neighbouring rights. Finding that copyright is only one part of the puzzle, Simon Geiregat offers broader perspectives to the transferability discussion by involving impeding digital architecture (technical protection measures) and the 'data ownership' debate, and by bringing consumer contract law and property law as well as equal treatment into the analysis. Providing a rigorous overview of the law surrounding digital content, this will be a valuable read for academics and practitioners with an interest in EU copyright and the debates on propertization and transferability in the digital context. It will also be beneficial to music and film organisations and distributors involved in supplying digital content in the European market.

In today's world of globalization, the United States generally is considered by foreign investors around the world to be the safest and most profitable location to invest their funds and from where to operate a headquarters or manufacturing site. After more than a decade of prosperity and a strong currency coupled with the traditional political stability, the United States has emerged as a net importer of capital for the first time in post World War II history. Increasing profit margins for multinationals, relatively low interest rates, incredible stock exchange prices and volume, a reduced level of inflation and record consumer spending resulting from sophisticated demands of the baby boomer age, as well as an accelerated rate of immigrant arrivals, all have inspired new private investment from abroad, now surpassing the USD 5 trillion mark in direct and indirect investment. Surveys consistently show that foreign businesspersons, like their American counterparts, seek locations from which to manufacture, assemble, or service their products where the tax or investment incentives are most attractive. This fact is reflected in the operations of the Fortune 500 in the United States where 80 per cent of privately invested assets are located in the five states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Illinois, and California, all of which are leaders in providing trade and investment concessions to businesses. Investment incentives consist of a variety of inducements ranging from tax credits and cash grants and tax exemptions or reductions to accelerated depreciation, loan subsidies and property tax, sales tax and customs duty exclusions or reductions, as well as foreign trade and enterprise zone availability. Unlike the array of incentives offered by foreign countries, the charts reflect that most of the States rely on property tax concessions, loan subsidy financing, development project rewards, low or no sales taxes and foreign trade zone availability. As in the case of Part I relating to State Investment Incentives, Part II of the "US State-by-State Guide to Investment Incentives and Capital Formation" covering the steps required to organize an entity in the United States, reflects great similarity in incorporation in contrast to enterprises wishing to operate abroad. The authors of this Guide present the reader with a clear picture of all the differing rules and regulations between the states that govern investors. It is clear, concise, user-friendly, and invaluable.

This is a book dedicated to the significance and legacy of landmark cases in the field of intellectual property. Eleven well-known scholars offer in-depth commentary and analysis of cases that have made an impact on legal theory or critical thinking about the scope and purpose of the protection of intellectual and industrial creativity. All the cases covered have proven useful in developing doctrine, even though subsequent developments have made some appear 'misleading' rather than 'leading', and for some recent cases it is too early to say whether their approach will become mainstream. Among the fundamental questions - all profoundly interesting, and to which no definite answers have yet been found - arising in the course of the analysis are the following: * Who should be master over the reputation, esteem and legacy of authors and their works - authors and their heirs, or subsequent copyright owners? * What, if any, protection should be granted to achievements in the absence of confusion? * Should prevention of unfair competition allow one to 'reap what one has not sown'? * Should we protect commercial investment beyond the scope of defined intellectual property rights? * Should it be considered a tort to use a well-known mark in a way that may dilute its repute and distinctive character? * What kinds of monopolies should be protected, if any? * Does the patent system in its current form allow us to question the assumption that technological progress is good per se, and that novel and inventive solutions should thus be protected? * Should extraneous considerations such as public good and social usefulness be considered at the stages of grant and enforcement of patent rights? * Should we grant patents over living organisms whose workings and reproduction are a long way from being completely understood? * Should the rules developed for the enforcement of property rights limit a patentee's remedies to appropriate damages, thereby effectively granting a compulsory licence? The book concludes with an analysis of two case clusters remarkable for the worldwide dimension of the dispute. The authors show how litigation over Lego in about 30 jurisdictions and Budweiser in over 40 jurisdictions has enriched doctrine on such issues as contract, trade marks, trade names, geographical indications, property rights in general, human rights, and various international and bilateral treaties, all as they impinge on the protection of intellectual property rights. For scholars in the field, as well as for lawyers seeking a rich vein of doctrine to buttress a case, this unusual book will be of incomparable value. As a masterful clarification of salient doctrine, it represents a major contribution to the legal theory underpinning intellectual property law.

The clergy abuse scandal has posed the greatest threat to the traditional understanding of the Catholic priesthood since the Protestant Reformation. Now, as then, the deadliest attacks are coming from within the Church. In an attempt to improve a system that allowed a small minority of the clergy to violate children and ameliorate the gross negligence of some bishops who recycled these predators, the American bishops instituted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in 2002. It is, unfortunately, doing the Church more harm than good.

In Hope Springs Eternal in the Priestly Breast, Fr. James Valladares shows how justice and charity have been violated by some bishops in dealing with accused priests. He examines the pertinent canons that guide the Church's judicial system and finds that these are often ignored or wrongly applied. He provides true cases that highlight the injustice of the process and the agony of priests who have been subjected to the charter's draconian mandates.

The Church has incurred tremendous financial losses because of settlements rising from both legitimate and false claims. Her image has been marred by the secular media, which has taken advantage of the crisis. Even so, we often fail to understand how trivial these are in comparison to the damage done to the priesthood by the enactment of the charter's policies. This is the most pressing issue that the bishops need to address.

Extensive nationalization, compromising not only the property of a single individual, but whole sectors of the economic system of the country gives rise to problems which cannot technically be solved on the basis of a few simple principles. The evolution of international law regarding the question of the international consequences of nationalization of property is elucidated in this work.

This book is the first of its kind to teach scientists and engineers beyond simply getting a patent granted. Rather, it also introduces the basis of patent licensing and related business aspects to inventors in order to help them create better patents that can be capitalized. This book covers aspects from basic concepts of patent laws, patent preparation to patent post granting and patent licensing in an easy-to-understand language for inventors. It also provides tips and pitfalls on how an inventor should assist in all phases of patent filing, prosecution and licensing. Through the author's extensive scientific background and experience, numerous cases are provided.

'Restitution for wrongs', or 'restitutionary damages', is the judicial award which compels the wrongdoer to give up to the victim the benefit obtained through the perpetration of the wrong, independently of any loss suffered by the victim. The establishment of a civil trial in Roman law, which left compensation as the main response, and a widespread, loss-centred interpretation of the Aristotelian theory of corrective justice explain, but do not justify the difficulties encountered by modern attempts to account for restitutionary damages. Mistakes in the classification of this institution have complicated the picture. To overcome some of these problems, this study considers the basic structure of restitutionary damages from different angles. In part one, the topic is analysed from a comparative perspective. Although the focus remains on English law, the German, the Italian and the Roman jurisdictions provide research data which, in part two, support the development of a theory of restitution for wrongs as corrective justice.

Most employeers are astounded at how easily and quickly their proprietary information can get out of their control. In a large number of cases, theft of trade secrets often involves employees leaving a company to start their own business or work for a direct competitor.
Nearly all books that address the topic of trade secrets have the spy vs. spy perspective. The author approaches the topic from a practical business perspective and not simply creating paranoia for paranoia s sake. The material for this book comes from the author s extensive work experience as a computer forensics consultant and manager on numerous theft of trade secrets cases.
No-nonsense solutions to the most common intellectual property problems facing security managers, computer security professionals, corporate legal counsel, and human resource managersSample agreements and forms that address specific business needsCoverage of threats ranging from physical security lapses to hackers to social engineering"

A person can lawfully engage in an act restricted by copyright if they have the licence of the copyright owner or if their actions are covered by a statutory exception. However, if a person has the benefit of neither of these, it may still be possible to imply a copyright licence to respond to copyright infringement. In contrast to the rigidity of the statutory exceptions, implied licences are more malleable in being able to respond to a diverse set of circumstances, as the need arises. Thus, implied licences can serve as a flexible and targeted mechanism to balance competing interests, including those of the copyright owners and content users, especially in today's dynamic technological environment. However, implication as a process is contentious, and there are no established principles for implying copyright licences. The resulting uncertainty has prevented implied licences from being embraced more readily by the courts. Therefore, this book develops a methodical and transparent way of implying copyright licences, based on three sources: the consent of the copyright owner; an established custom; and state intervention to achieve policy goals. The frameworks proposed are customised separately for implying bare and contractual licences, where relevant. The book goes on to analyse the existing case law in the light of these frameworks to demonstrate how the court's reasoning can be made methodical and transparent. Underscoring the contemporary relevance of implied licences, this book tests and validates the methodology in relation to three essential and ubiquitous functions on the internet - browsing, hyperlinking, and indexing.

In our technological society patent law plays a central role as an incentive for the development and marketing of new technologies in many fields of business. The number of patent applications continues to grow considerably every year. International and European conventions and other instruments have been implemented in order to simplify the application for and enforcement of patents and which also govern the scope of protection afforded by a patent in Europe. Others are being planned. This second edition of Concise European Patent Law aims to offer the reader a rapid understanding of all the provisions of patent law in force in Europe that have been enacted at the European and international levels. This volume takes the form of an article-by-article commentary on the European Patent Convention and the relevant European Community legislation and international treaties. It is intended to provide the reader with a short and straightforward explanation of the principles of law to be drawn from each provision, with references to the most important case law. Editors and authors are prominent specialists (both academics and practitioners) in the field of international and European patent law.Concise European Patent Law, second edition is one of a series of volumes of commentary on European Intellectual property legislation edited by Thomas Dreier, Charles Gielen and Richard Hacon, based on the respected German and Dutch series 'Kurzkommentar and Tekst en Commentaar.'

Have you been appointed by a family member to be the personal representative or executor of their estate? Have you considered how you would like your own personal possessions to be distributed? This book was written to introduce and familiarize its readers with easy to understand estate closing techniques and probate procedures. It is the author's intent to educate any individual that is either faced with closing an estate, or anyone that may be considering how their own estate might be administered. After reading this book, you too may consider yourself a professional as you set out to close your estate with ease.

This comprehensive book offers a thoughtful survey of theories, issues and cases in order to reassess the present vision of contract law. Comparative refers both to the specific kind of methodologies implied and to the polyphonic perspectives collected on the main topics, with the aim of superseding the conventional forms of representation. In this perspective, the work engages a critical search for the fault lines, which crosses traditions of thought and globalized landscapes. Notwithstanding contract's enduring presence and the technicalities devoted to managing clauses and interpretation, the inquiry on the proper nature of contract and its status and collocation within private legal taxonomies continues to be a controversial exercise. Moving from a vast array of dissimilar inclinations, which have historically produced heterogeneous maps of law, this book is built around the genealogies of contractual theoretical thinking; the contentious relationship between private governance and normative regulations; the competing styles used to stage contract law; the concurring opinions expressed within the domain of other disciplines, such as literature and political theory; the tensions between global context and local frames; and the movable thresholds between canonical expressions and heterodox constructions. For its careful analysis and the wide range of references employed, Comparative Contract Law will be a tremendous resource for academics, legal scholars and interdisciplinary experts as well as judges and law practitioners. Contributors include: G. Bellantuono, B.H. Bix, D. Carpi, C.L. Cordasco, C. Costantini, S. Fiorato, J. Gordley, M. Granieri, A. Hutchison, M.R. Marella, G. Marini, P.G. Monateri, F. Monceri, P. Moreno Cruz, H. Muir Watt, F. Parisi, P. Pardolesi, G. Samuel

Intellectual property is one of the most valuable forms of property in the modern world. From the perspective of companies producing knowledge-intensive goods, it encourages technological innovations for the benefit of humanity. For consumers of technology, it can be seen as a restriction on access to knowledge that inflates corporate rents. When genetic material crucial for human life is isolated from the commons, engineered and turned into private intellectual property, dissent is likely to emerge. Felipe Filomeno uses the case of Monsanto in South American soybean agriculture to theorize about the emergence and change of intellectual property regimes. Based on official documents, interviews, journalistic material, and academic literature, the study shows not only the relations of competition, coercion, and alliances that lie behind the post-1980 global upward ratchet of intellectual property protection but also the strategies that have the potential to reverse it.

This work contains the proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Dutch-Japanese Law, which took place at the University of Utrecht in August 1996. The doctrine of tort law was chosen as the central theme for this conference. The meaning of tort law has been extended to such a degree that socially accepted responsibilities are attributed to specifically determined natural and legal persons. This book elaborates on various trends in tort law, such as medical liability, traffic liability, product liability, and environmental liability. A comparison with the Japanese legal system provides interesting insights into this particular issue, because the Japanese system is of a dualistic nature. By studying the development of the law in both Japan and the Netherlands, existing links are strengthened and new contacts between Dutch and Japanese academic lawyers are established.

This book explores the normative and legal evolution of the Social Dimension - labour law, social security law and family law - in both the EU and its Member States, during the last decade. It does this from a wide range of theoretical and legal-substantive perspectives. The past decade has witnessed the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty and its emphasis on fundamental rights, a new coordination regulation within the field of social security (Regulation 883/2004/EC), and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the so-called Laval Quartet. Furthermore structural changes affecting demographics and family have also challenged solidarity in new ways. The book is organised by reference to distinct 'normative patterns' and their development in the fields of law covered, such as the protection of established groups, the position of market functional values and the scope for just distribution. The book represents an innovative and important interdisciplinary approach to analysing EU law and Social Europe, and contributes a complex, yet thought-provoking, picture for the future. The contributors represent an interesting mix of well-known and distinguished as well as upcoming and promising researchers throughout Europe and beyond.

The comprehensive research review discusses some of the most important and influential articles published on the history of intellectual property. The seminal works encompass a broad variety of specific legal fields, periods and methodological perspectives. It focuses on the three main subfields of intellectual property: patent, copyright and trademark law. This important research review will be of a great interest to legal historians, economic historians and anyone interested in intellectual property and its history.

"Defining the Family: Law, Technology, and Reproduction in an Uneasy Age" provides a sweeping portrait of the family in American law from the nineteenth century to the present. The family today has come to be defined by individuality and choice. Pre-nuptial agreements, non-marital cohabitation, gay and lesbian marriages have all profoundly altered our ideas about marriage and family. In the last few years, reproductive technology and surrogacy have accelerated this process of change at a breathtaking rate. Once simple questions have taken on a dizzying complexity: Who are the real parents of a child? What are the relationships and responsibilities between a child, the woman who carried it to term, and the egg donor? Between viable sperm and the wife of a dead donor?

The courts and the law have been wildly inconsistent and indecisive when grappling with these questions. Should these cases be decided in light of laws governing contracts and property? Or it is more appropriate to act in the best interests of the child, even if that child is unborn, or even unconceived? No longer merely settling disputes among family members, the law is now seeing its own role expand, to the point where it is asked to regulate situations unprecedented in human history. Janet L. Dolgin charts the response of the law to modern reproductive technology both as it transforms our image of the family and is itself transformed by the tide of social forces.

This book is about one of the most controversial dilemmas of contract law: whether or not the unexpected change of circumstances due to the effects of financial crises may under certain conditions be taken into account. Growing interconnectedness of global economies facilitates the spread of the effects of the financial crises. Financial crises cause severe difficulties for persons to fulfill their contractual obligations. During the financial crises, performance of contractual obligations may become excessively onerous or may cause an excessive loss for one of the contracting parties and consequently destroy the contractual equilibrium and legitimate the governmental interventions. Uncomfortable economic climate leads to one of the most controversial dilemmas of the contract law: whether the binding force of the contract is absolute or not. In other words, unstable economic circumstances impose the need to devote special attention to review and perhaps to narrow the binding nature of a contract. Principle of good faith and fair dealing motivate a variety of theoretical bases in order to overcome the legal consequences of financial crises. In this book, all these theoretical bases are analyzed with special focus on the available remedies, namely renegotiation, rescission or revision and the circumstances which enables the revocation of these remedies. The book collects the 19 national reports and the general report originally presented in the session regarding the Effects of Financial Crises on the Binding Force of Contracts: Renegotiation, Rescission or Revision during the XIXth congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law, held in Vienna, July 2014.