Identity in Question: A Grammatology of DNA and Forensic Genetics

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique -     

The rise and fall of cross-border jurisdiction and remedies in IP disputes

Legal context. Companies which have seen their IP rights infringedacross Europe have, in recent years, been keen to obtain cross-borderrelief from infringement through bringing a single action inthe court of just one EU Member State. This approach has time,cost and tactical advantages for claimants, but raises complexjurisdictional questions. Key points. This article provides an in-depth explanation ofthe framework for litigating IP rights in the European Union.It describes the various interpretations to which the BrusselsRegulation on Jurisdiction has been subjected and how they affectthe availability of cross-border relief. This explanation providesa foundation for analysing the recent ECJ decisions in Gat vLuk and Roche v Primus. Practical significance. Cross-border jurisdiction and reliefis, in practice, no longer available in respect of registeredrights.     

The emerging international framework of business marks in the digital economy

‘A book may be good for nothing; or there may be onlyone thing in it worth knowing; are we to read it all through?’(Samuel Johnson) This section is dedicated to the review ofideas, articles, books, films and other media. It will includereplies (and rejoinders) to articles, the evaluation of newideas or proposals, and reviews of books and articles both directlyand indirectly related to intellectual property law.

Domain Name Law and     

中国新经济增长模式的制度设计——诺贝尔经济学奖获得者斯蒂格利茨在云南大学的演讲

编者按:应云南大学经济学院邀请,2001年诺贝尔奖经济学奖获得者、前美国总统经济顾问委员会主席、世界银行首席经济学家和高级副总裁、美国哥伦比亚大学经济学教授约瑟夫·斯蒂格利茨(Joseph E.Stiglitz)出席了云南大学于2007年举办的"东陆经济高端论坛",讲演会上,斯蒂格利茨博士欣然接受云南大学校长吴松教授的聘请,受聘为云南大学荣誉教授.     

Learning to Dispute: Repeat Participation,Expertise, and Reputation at the World Trade Organization

This mixed-method analysis examines the effects of repeat participation on disputing at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Differences between disputants in terms of their experience with WTO disputing processes affect the likelihood of a dispute transitioning to a panel review in distinct ways, depending upon the configuration of the parties. More experienced complainants tend to achieve settlements, while more experienced respondents tend to refuse conciliation. Strategies of experienced respondents are derived from the expertise generated from repeated direct participation and the normalcy of disputing for repeat players as well as the benefits accruing from a reputation for being unlikely to settle. Repeat players also seek to avoid disputes expected to produce unfavorable jurisprudence but do not actively try to create new case law through the selection of disputes. This research demonstrates a dynamic learning process in how parties use international legal forums and thus extends sociolegal scholarship beyond the nation-state.     

Education Funding in a Recentralizing Democracy: A Cautionary Tale of Four Brazilian Cities

The administration of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso enacted measures to constrain subnational politicians in a newly democratized and highly decentralized federal system. Lacking sufficient accountability at the subnational level, the central government attempted to increase its control of educational funding and minimize local discretion over educational spending. These reforms constrained the distribution of intergovernmental transfers, but entrusted the disbursement of educational spending to local oversight. This article argues that while the constraints protected the federal treasury from predatory practices, the local oversight did not protect educational spending from mayoral discretion. This argument is based on an analysis of initial reform implementation in four municipal school systems. The mayors responded to the federal initiatives in a variety of ways, but these were based on the requirements of their own political survival. The four cases thereby become studies in how one effort to recentralize democracy is working in Brazil.