With Makan Delrahim’s recent confirmation by the Senate to head the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Antitrust division, the focus has now shifted to the Trump administration’s approach to corporate transaction deals and the potential appurtenant policy changes.1 Under the Obama administration, the Antitrust division continued recent trends exemplified by an increasing inclination to challenge proposed…
Category: Blog Articles
Matal v. Tam: The Future of Disparaging and Scandalous Trademarks
Trademarks are ubiquitous in the everyday lives of countless consumers. Indeed, some consumers have little difficulty drawing big brand logos from memory, down to the precise colors and details.1 That aptitude did not arise by happenstance: brands are designed to create a bond between the consumer and the product by provoking the consumer’s emotions.2 Still,…
Microsoft is Moving Away from Billable Hours. Will Others Follow their Lead?
Microsoft announced this summer that it wants 90% of its outside counsel work to be paid for through alternative fee arrangements.1 Microsoft intends to utilize large retainer fees to encourage more collaboration between the company and its outside counsel.2 One could be forgiven for assuming that Microsoft believes shifting away from billable hours will cut…
Self-Driving Cars in China – The Need for Regulatory Development
On July 5, Yanhong Li, the CEO of Baidu, a company known as “China’s Google,” spoke to attendees of the Artificial Intelligence Development Conference in Beijing via live video from inside a self-driving car as it drove around the city.1. However, Li was later warned and investigated by the police for an alleged violation of…
The Legislative and Regulatory Landscape of Autonomous Vehicles
As car manufacturers and technology companies forge ahead with their plans to implement autonomous driving technology, it is important they consider the legislative and regulatory landscape. These entities are in uncertain territory because the current regulatory structure does not closely align with autonomous driving.1 On the federal level, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)…
No Benefit: How Benefit Corporations Accidentally Undermined Corporate Social Responsibility
I. The Basic Difference Between a Traditional Corporation and a Benefit Corporation The corporate form is a legal entity with a well-established primary purpose: to generate profit for the corporation’s shareholders.1 Although the advisability and impact of the so-called “shareholder primacy norm” has often been debated,2 the norm has endured and still commands the respect…
China’s Push Against Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin, arguably the most famous cryptocurrency, is notably volatile. Within 2017 alone, Bitcoin has faced two major crashes and recoveries.1 Yet, so far, keeping money in Bitcoin, and in the cryptocurrency market more generally, has been wildly profitable.2 In fact, cryptocurrency’s market capitalization in the last year was about six times that of the dot-com…
Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA): Where We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We Are Going
During its current term, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) will hear a case brought by the State of New Jersey challenging the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (“PASPA”) in an attempt to legalize sports gambling in the state. Sports betting, and in particular single-game sports betting, has a long…
Carbon Pricing: Current State
In a world coming to a consensus on climate change, there exists a multitude of methods which governments can utilize to influence greenhouse emissions. The current global focus is on carbon pricing. Carbon pricing is an increase to the cost of carbon dioxide emissions.1 I would argue that carbon pricing is superior to other energy…
Texas Court Makes Quick Work of Obama-era Overtime Rule.
Since December 2016, employers with salaried workers all over the country have been riding a regulatory seesaw. That’s when a revised Obama administration Department of Labor regulation was supposed to take effect. The new rule raised the minimum salary required for an exemption from mandatory overtime from $23,660 annually to $47,476 per year for salaried…