Venequip 1782 Case
Section 1782, which authorizes judicial assistance to foreign and international tribunals, is a staple of transnational litigation. In a recent decision, the Seventh Circuit reviewed a lower court decision to deny a 1782 application. This case is in many ways a “typical” 1782 case, although its discussion of choice-of-forum clauses is of note. Background Very…
Continue ReadingPreliminary Injunctions and the Hague Service Convention
In Whirlpool Corporation v. Shenzhen Sanlida Electrical Technology Company, the Fifth Circuit addressed the interaction between the Hague Service Convention and the preliminary injunction. Briefly, Whirlpool sued Shenzhen in the Eastern District of Texas for trademark and trade dress infringement related to Whirlpool’s “iconic” KitchenAid mixer. (Much like a prior Seventh Circuit case, this one…
Continue ReadingFederal Law and Choice-of-Law Reform
How much should federal law have to say about the choice-of-law rules used by federal courts in diversity cases? In Klaxon v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing Co., Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal courts sitting in diversity should apply the choice-of-law rules prevailing in the states in which they sit. This post defends the…
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