The Roundtable
Welcome to the Roundtable, a forum for incisive commentary and analysis
on cases and developments in law and the legal system.
on cases and developments in law and the legal system.
 By Shahana Banerjee
Shahana Banerjee is a sophomore in the College of Arts of Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania studying Health and Societies. After two grueling years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moderna, Inc. announced on August 26th, 2022, that the pharmaceutical giant would be suing its rival drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech. The lawsuit filed by the company in the U.S. and Germany alleges that the latter two companies used Moderna’s patented mRNA technology to develop their joint COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty®, infringing patents that Moderna had filed between 2010 and 2016.
0 Comments
 By Alicia Augustin
Alicia Augustin is a first-year student at the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Arts and Sciences who plans to study Political Science and Urban Education. The practice of redlining in the United States has added another dimension to the division of the country in a systematic way. This system not only creates this idea of desirable vs. undesirable areas to live in, but it also actively aids in perpetuating the inequalities that exist within these divisions. The roots of redlining can be traced back to the Great Depression and how government officials responded to it.  By Vishwajeet Deshmukh
Vishwajeet Deshmukh is an undergraduate law student at Government Law College, Mumbai, India. In February 2022, female students were banned from entering a college in Udipi, Karnataka, India because the students wore “hijabs” [1]. A hijab is a veil worn by Muslim women, covering the head and chest [2]. The ban on hijabs has resulted in large-scale protests across India and sparked controversy over religious liberty.  By Oulai Pan
Oulai "Audrey" Pan is a first-year student at the University of Pennsylvania's College of Arts and Sciences who plans to study political science and economics. The filibuster, which refers to prolonged debate in the Senate, is perhaps one of the most discussed domestic political issues today. Though the filibuster is often seen as a tool which upholds the Senate’s tradition of unlimited debate, it actually originated from a simplification of Senate procedures in 1807. This included the deletion of a rule that would have allowed a simple majority to cut off debate on a bill. [1] Thus, from then onward, Senators could technically extend debate indefinitely to prevent the passage of a bill. However, there were few filibusters prior to the twentieth century, since Senators largely operated on a presumed majority rule. [2]  Sophie Lovering is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) and minoring in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies.
On Thursday, March 24, the Senate concluded four days of hearings regarding Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination for the Supreme Court of the United States [1]. Nominated by President Biden, Jackson shares many characteristics of the justices that have come before her: attended an Ivy league law school, served as Supreme Court clerk, and worked as a federal appeals judge [1]. Despite her similarities to past justices, should Jackson fill the present Supreme Court vacancy, she would make history as the first public defender and the first Black woman to serve [2].  By Rachel Bina
Rachel Bina is a freshman in the Huntsman Program studying Business and International Studies with a focus on Russia. She is interested in global affairs, foreign languages, international law, as well as experimenting with international cuisines in her free time. As we have heard time and time again since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we are living in unprecedented times. These unprecedented times have resulted in unprecedented measures like various state and federal mandates, which have, in turn, led to new legal challenges and precedents. In the United States, the Biden administration’s push for vaccinations has led them to mandate vaccinations for federal workers. In addition to this, they announced on November 4, that January 4, 2022, will be the deadline for companies with 100 or more employees to mandate coronavirus vaccinations for their employees [1].  By Kanishka Bhukya
Kanishka Bhukya is a 2nd year B.A./LL.B student at the National Law School of India University Since Hugo Chavez’s election as Venezuela's president, the transatlantic coalition—comprising the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and the European Union (EU)—has pursued an aggressive campaign of subversion directed towards the Venezuelan government. The same tactic has been applied to Nicolas Maduro’s regime, in which the coalition has been explicit in their desire to replace the elected regime with one more accepting of the capitalist economic model. To that end, they have recognised self-proclaimed president Juan Guiadó as Venezuela's de jure president, rejecting the country's democratically-elected president, Maduro.  By Kanishka Bhukya
Kanishka Bhukya is a 2nd year B.A./LL.B student at the National Law School of India University. On October 13, 2020, eight countries (the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Canada, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and Luxembourg) signed the Artemis Accords Principles for a Safe, Peaceful, and Prosperous Future. [1] Just after that, on November 13, 2020, Ukraine became the ninth signatory to this set of non-binding principles which actively seek to direct the behavior of countries participating in outer space exploration in the context of NASA's Artemis Program to place the first woman and the next man on the moon. [1]  Image Source: “The Importance of Intellectual Property (and How to Protect It).” Equinox Law Group, September 7, 2021. https://equinoxbusinesslaw.com/blog/the-importance-of-intellectual-property-and-how-to-protect-it/. By Rachel Gu
Rachel Gu is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania studying Bioengineering. Generation Z’s most loved cinematic characters of the Marvel universe have recently become the main characters of one of The Walt Disney Company’s largest asset battles to date. Through distinguished Intellectual Property lawyer Marc Toberoff, five of the original Marvel Comics creators served Marvel Entertainment–owned by Disney–with notices of copyright termination under section 304(c) of the Copyright Act. These creators include comic illustrators Steve Ditko and Don Heck, heirs of writers Don Rico and Gene Colan, and comic writer and artist Lawrence D. Lieber–who is the younger brother of the deceased chief writer and editor of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee. Toberoff’s clients seek to reclaim copyright ownership through copyright termination for their characters Doctor Strange, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, Falcon, Blade, and the Wizard, all of which provide large sources of revenue for Disney through films, television shows, and merchandise. Consequently, Marvel filed lawsuits in return to invalidate the termination notices. If Toberoff is successful, Marvel would lose full copyright ownership as soon as June 2023. [1]  Image source: “Chinese Class-Flickr.” Wikimedia Commons, January 29, 2007. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Chinese_class_-_Flickr_-_%28cleverCl%40i®ê%29.jpg. By Oulai "Audrey" Pan Oulai "Audrey" Pan is a first-year student at the University of Pennsylvania's College of Arts and Sciences who plans to study political science and economics. For a nation that is notorious for academic competition, China’s announcement of its “Double Reduction” policies came as a surprise for many. In July of 2021, China announced resolutions imposing numerous restrictions on its test preparation industry, estimated to be worth over $100 billion, as well as the amount of schoolwork students can receive in a given week [1]. These new regulations were collectively dubbed the “Double Reduction.” More specifically, it entails the following:
|
|
|