Clarisse De La Cerda, a College of Law S.J.D. candidate focusing on intellectual property law, moderated a “Table Topic” discussion at the International Trademark Association’s (INTA) annual meeting. The topic was “IP Protection for Video-Games: How Can Trademarks Contribute for Better Enforcement of Rights?”
“A video game encompasses multiple potentially overlapping IP protection issues. The discussion covered the most efficient strategy for IP protection and licensing, according to the participants’ experience. In the area of enforcement, we discussed how litigation can serve as a powerful weapon,” says De La Cerda.
The session ended with a Who Am I? game covering trademarks related to video games.
INTA’s Table Topics sessions offer focused discussions on trending issues and critical questions that bring together global experts from all aspects of trademark enforcement.
De La Cerda is also a member of INTA’s Academic Committee, which provides law students and professors with educational services and support.
Her S.J.D. dissertation focuses on applying an antitrust solution to the enforcement of invalid intellectual property rights. Her advisor is Professor Shubha Ghosh.
Professor Jenny Breen spoke with the Christian Science Monitor about a provision in the Trump budget bill that no federal court “may use appropriated funds” to enforce a contempt-of-court citation for failing to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order “if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued.”
“What Congress is trying to do here is ease the way for the administration to ignore court orders,” says Breen. “Our system requires each branch to step up and check the other branch, and this bill just broadcasts that Congress is not interested in doing that for this president.”
Thanks to the efforts of the Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic (VLC) within the College of Law, hundreds of area veterans have received their benefits or successfully upgraded their military discharge through the pro bono, student-offered legal services since its founding in 2015.
David M. Levy L’48 Professor of Law Nina Kohn recently spoke with the Denver Post about a Colorado nursing home management company sued by short-term staffing vendors for allegedly failing to pay them. Some of the ownership has changed since the lawsuits.
Nursing homes typically don’t have many discretionary expenses, with most money going toward staffing, said Kohn, an expert on long-term care reform. That makes it particularly important to maintain a reputation for paying on time, because they wouldn’t be able to function if vendors cut them off, she said.
“Even if there is 100% new (ownership) turnover, the reputation may remain,” Kohn said.
Professor Jenny Breen’s essay, “Democracy’s Fundamentals: Efficacy, Equality, and the Supreme Court” was highlighted on the Legal Theory Blog. Breen recently posted the essay to SSRN.
This essay identifies two fundamental predicates of democratic rule—efficacy and equality—and examines the decisions of the United States Supreme Court in light of both of those key categories, finding that its recent decisions have been consistently undermining both.
Professor Gregory Germain spoke with the New York Law Journal about a recently introduced New York State bill that would ensure the state wouldn’t recognize pro bono work “resulting from the Trump Administration’s unlawful extortion of private law firms and attack on the practice of law.”
“The bill does not restrict the provision of pro bono work. It only restricts using the hours spent on pro bono work directed by the federal government for pro bono bar credit,” Germain said. “It’s very hard to know what pro bono work the federal government will direct law firms to perform. It’s very possible that some of the pro bono work directed by the federal government would be traditional pro bono work on behalf of the poor, for example. So the legislation might be over-inclusive.”
She provided guidance on taxes, where to retire, how to pursue a new career, and the VA healthcare system.
When discussing new career opportunities for military retirees, Kubala noted, “Many military retirees I know seek careers that continue to provide meaningful opportunities for public service and personal satisfaction like state or local government, the non-profit sector, and even entrepreneurial endeavors.”
Syracuse University College of Law recently held Commencement exercises for the Class of 2025. The Class of 2025 includes 208 recipients of the J.D. degree and 24 LL.M. graduates.
Commencement Speaker Frank Ryan, Americas Chair, Global Co-Chair, and Co-CEO of DLA Piper and a Member of the Syracuse College of Law Board of Advisors.
Frank Ryan IV ’90, L’94, the Class of 2025 Commencement Speaker, emphasized the need for resilience as graduates step into the legal profession amid a time of complexity and uncertainty. “The finest and greatest professionals, who often are those who seem to be the happiest and most fulfilled in their professional lives,” he explained, “have three core characteristics: (1) they have a growth mindset, (2) they are anti-fragile, and (3) they understand the power of time.”
Dean Terence Lau addresses the Class of 2025.
In his first Commencement address, Dean Terence Lau reminded the Class of 2025 that above the main entrance of the Supreme Court of the United States are the words “equal justice under law.” And yet carved on the back, just as commanding, are the words “justice, the guardian of liberty.”
“These words remind us that liberty is not passive,” he said. “It doesn’t endure on its own. It’s protected and upheld every day by people like you. People who are called to serve justice with fairness, with wisdom, and with compassion. That’s the role of a lawyer. Not just to interpret the law, but to help make it work for everyone and ensure it is accessible and just. And in doing so, you help strengthen the public’s trust in the very foundation of our democracy.”
During Commencement, the J.D. Class of 2025 awarded Associate Professor of Law Laura Lape the Res Ipsa Loquitor Award (voted upon by the graduating class in recognition of a faculty member who has demonstrated exceptional commitment and service to the College of Law).
Associate Professor of Law Laura Lape carries the mace to begin the Commencement Ceremony, a symbol of tradition and academic excellence.
Associate Director of Academic and Bar Success Lou Lou Delmarsh was awarded the Staff Award (voted upon by the graduating class in recognition of a College of Law staff member in recognition of their support of students and faculty, and their accomplishments that make the College run day-to-day).
Lou Lou Delmarsh receives the Staff Award.
The LL.M. Class of 2024 awarded Teaching Professor of Law Richard Risman the Lucet Lex Mundum Award (voted upon by the graduating LL.M. class, it recognizes the professor who has made a significant impact on the success and experiences of LL.M. students during their studies).
Professor of Law Emeritus William C. Banks provided historical background for an article on the Alien Enemies Act in The Telegraph. President Trump has indicated the law’s use for the deportation of immigrants.
For Banks, using the act sent a powerful message to voters.
“The language of the legislation uses the term invasion, and another term, predatory incursion,” he told The Telegraph
“That sounds like language that strikes fear into the hearts of Americans and so on. So it served a very powerful rhetorical purpose when he gave his inaugural address on January 20, and then in a series of executive orders that he promulgated on that day and then several days afterwards,” he said.
“Legally, it has almost certainly no application to the circumstances that the United States now finds itself in. It was written, as you probably have learnt, in the 1790s in anticipation of what was feared to be a coming war with France,” said Banks.
University Professor David Driesen spoke with Mother Jones for an extensive article on the “unitary executive” theory.
“The unitary executive theory is a pathway to autocracy,” says Driesen, whose 2021 book, The Specter of Dictatorship, details the dangers of centralizing power in a single leader. “In every functional democracy I’m aware of, there is a civil service that can’t be easily fired, and there also are pockets in the government where even the top levels are somewhat independent of the head of state.”
In countries like Poland, Hungary, and Turkey, which have all recently experienced democratic backsliding, Driesen says civil service purges were an early step in the project of replacing the rule of law with autocracy. “The unitary executive theory is important,” he says, because it “legitimates this kind of thing in the minds of the elite.”
“The vision of the founding is that the president was to faithfully execute the law. That’s what the Constitution says,” says Driesen. “That’s what the rule of law is all about.”
