Foreign fame is not enough to confer US trade mark rights

On appeal from the Southern District of New York, the SecondCircuit affirmed the award of summary judgment against ITC'strade mark infringement, unfair competition, and false advertisingclaims under state and federal law, holding that the famousmarks doctrine was not incorporated by Congress into the LanhamAct and thus not a federally protected right.     

WinID2 versus CAPMI4: two computer-assisted dental identification systems

Disasters produce victims that require identification. Comparing antemortem and postmortem dental records provides an important means of identification. Computers have assisted this process. Currently, the principal computer programs are CAPMI4 and WinID2. The present study compared these programs on a sample of 100 simulated victims and 105 simulated postmortem fragments. CAPMI4 provided 48 correct matches and WinID2 provided 71 correct matches. In addition, comparisons were made within WinID2 to determine which of its three dental data sets was the most successful for suggesting correct matches.     

The innovative personality? Policy making and experimentation in an authoritarian bureaucracy

Why do local officials in an authoritarian bureaucracy experiment with policy, even when directed not to do so by central‐level officials? This study suggests that policy experimentation in this institutional environment can best be understood as an interaction between the structure in which local officials are embedded and individual‐level personality attributes. Leveraging a new data set from a series of original surveys with local policy makers in mainland China, conducted between 2016 and 2018, we discern three baseline personality types: authoritarian, consultative, and entrepreneurial. We thereafter examine the individual‐level characteristics of local officials who will innovate irrespective of a centralization of bureaucratic power and interests, as currently experienced under Chinese President Xi Jinping. We find that local policy makers engage in policy innovation when they are more focused on resolving governance problems and that increased risk reduces but does not eliminate their willingness to innovate. Based on these findings, we contend that future studies of policy innovation should use an evolutionary framework to examine the interaction between preferences and selection pressures.     

Looking for ‘New Ideas That Work’: county innovation in China’s health system reforms—the case of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme

Sub-national governments in China have substantial responsibility for policy development as well as for direct implementation of circumscribed policy options set out by higher levels of government, and much policy discourse emphasizes the importance of sub-national flexibility and creativity in policy implementation. Discourses of government innovation aim to encourage local initiative in policy formulation and solving of systemically-important policy problems, and policy experimentation/innovation are increasingly credited as important elements of the Chinese government toolbox in managing reform. Recent studies have tended to treat experimentation/innovation as systemic phenomena, and there are few analyses of how local governments respond to central ‘experimental’ policy frameworks and develop locally- or systemically-useful policy solutions. Given concerns around the capacity of local governments, this is highly relevant in understanding how locally-generated policy relates to systemic reform. The article presents a case study of a low tech and ‘second best’ reimbursement mechanism developed sub-nationally under the New Cooperative Medical Scheme, China’s rural health insurance framework, and its spread and incorporation into national policy. It argues for the importance of local government development of ‘appropriate’ policy mechanisms (jizhi) as underpinning central reforms and system adaptation.     

The Repercussions of Brexit for CARICOM’s Cohesion

Abstract

Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has sent shockwaves not just within Europe but across the globe. In the Caribbean, it has heightened uncertainty about the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) ability to survive its own fissures, most recently expressed in Jamaica’s decision to review its membership of CARICOM. This article explores some of the challenges CARICOM is experiencing, in particular Jamaica’s dissatisfaction with and position within the group. It argues that despite parallels between Britain and Jamaica and their position in their respective groupings, the rationale for CARICOM is fundamentally different from that underlying the European integration experience. It concludes that CARICOM is unlikely to unfurl because the factors driving the process—small size, global marginality and common challenges—provide a strong impetus for their cohesion.