Post-termination use of licensed intellectual property by licensees

Legal and practical context: The ongoing dispute between Nokia and Qualcomm exemplifies thecomplex issues that arise when the licensor–licensee relationshipbreaks down. It illustrates that any means by which a licenseecan secure rights to use licensed IP after termination of alicence agreement can be of great commercial importance, notto mention significant economic value. If a licensee can continueto use licensed IP notwithstanding that its agreement has beenterminated, a licensor's ability to control and derive maximumeconomic benefit from its IP may be fundamentally compromised. Key points: The means available to licensees to secure such rights varydepending on the kind of IP right licensed, but there are severalcommon themes, which draw on a diverse range of legal rulesand concepts, including specific IP concepts and laws (includingthe rules relating to assignment and licensing, the exhaustionof rights, revocation and invalidation, and defences to infringementclaims), contract law and competition law. This article discussespractical implications to be considered when drafting IP licenceagreements. Conclusions: From a licensee's perspective, the termination of its licenceagreement is not necessarily the end of the road. Licenseesshould be aware of these post-termination rights when expectingto face difficult renegotiations with a licensor. From bothparties' perspectives, but particularly that of licensor, thisarticle should demonstrate the importance of drafting to avoidany uncertainty that may arise on the termination of a licenceagreement.     

Causes of Action: First Findings of the LSRC Periodic Survey

In this paper we report some of the first findings of the LSRC periodic survey of justiciable problems. We confirm the prevalence of justiciable problems amongst the general population. We identify important differences in the experiences of discrete socio–demographic populations, not only in terms of the number of problems faced, but also in terms of the perception of problems and reactions to them. We show that cost is not the principal barrier to taking action or obtaining advice across most problem categories. Other concerns, such as fear or uncertainty as to what can be done are generally more prevalent. We illustrate the range of strategies employed by those who take action, and confirm the rarity of court action. Finally we show that the basic form of Felstiner, Abel, and Sarat's aetiology of lawsuits is recognizable within our findings, although we explain that the manner and form of progression through the various stages is complex and irregular.     

Kosovo Revisited: Humanitarian Intervention on the Fault Lines of International Law

The asserted doctrine of unilateral humanitarian interventionhas given rise to considerable debate in international law.This article revisits the use of force in Kosovo to criticallyappraise this debate. The arguments for and against the doctrineare schematically compared and contrasted. Their differencesare methodological, but underlying factors are relevant. Thesemay include a conflict of values (notably, sovereignty versushuman rights), but certainly involve deep disciplinary problemsevidenced by confusing international legal terminology and,especially, the contradictions inherent in identifying and changingrules of general/customary international law. Three factorsare considered as potentially helpful in bridging these faultlines: state practice (unavoidably), the stability of the internationalsystem and accountability. The latter two, at least, sit uncomfortablywith unilateralism.     

Training,experience, and magistrates' sentencing philosophies

The lay magistracy is unique to the English legal system, and this study investigates how those appointed as magistrates change in their sentencing policy and attitudes toward defendants as a result of the experience gained during the first year on the bench and as a result of the mandatory training program. An experimental design was used to evaluate the effects of training in which a group of newly appointed magistrates was randomly assigned to defer their training for one year and compared to those who completed their training during the first year in the usual way. In addition, the use of a group of nonmagistrates as controls enabled a quasiexperimental evaluation of the effects of experience on the bench. Magistrates and controls completed a questionnaire in which they sentenced a number of cases at the time of the magistrates' appointment to the bench and again one year later. The results showed that magistrates as a result of their experience became more committed to the aims of deterrence and punishment, became more pessimistic about the prospects of reforming defendants, regarded the severe sentences as more appropriate, and took a less sympathetic view of defendants. The training program, however, tended to ameliorate these effects. Possible explanations for these findings and the implications for the training of magistrates are discussed.This study was supported by a grant from the Nuffield Foundation     

The Role of Theory in Experimental Design: Experiments Without Randomization

Some who have written about the logic of experimentation arguethat random assignment of subjects to treatment conditions isan essential attribute of an experiment. Others disagree. Ratherthan treating this as a matter of dueling definitions, we considerexperiments without randomization from a theoretical perspective.Our central contention here is that, for some research questions,theory dictates systematic (not random) assignment of respondentsto experimental conditions. Two such areas of inquiry are researchon political tolerance and on institutional legitimacy. Thisarticle gives cursory attention to the former body of work anddetailed attention to the latter, based on an experiment conductedin a survey in 2001 on the consequences of the American presidentialelection for institutional legitimacy. Because in both instancestheory requires nonrandom assignment, the problem becomes oneof identifying the costs of nonrandomization (threats to internalvalidity) and specifying analytical techniques that might amelioratethose costs. Consequently, we present results from a statisticalapproach that addresses the problem of nonrandomization. Themost important claim of this article is that theory ought tospecify research design, including experimental designs, andthat dogmatic attachment to one definition of experiment willnot serve the discipline of political science.