Month: February 2012

  • Case of the Day: Berkenhoff GmbH v. Global Trade Network, Inc.

    The case of the day is Berkenhoff GmbH v. Global Trade Network, Inc. (S.D. Ohio 2012). The parties had a licensing dispute over a patent relating to electric discharge machining wire used in precision cutting. The parties arbitrated the dispute in Frankfurt. The award was in Berkenhoff’s favor, and Berkenhoff sought to confirm the award……

  • Peter H. Pfund on Federalism and U.S. Participation in Unification of Private Law

    I want to draw readers’ attention to interesting remarks by Peter H. Pfund on Federalism and U.S. Participation in Intergovernmental Efforts to Unify Private Law, in 56 Vill. L. Rev. 559 (2011), which I’ve just had the chance to read. Mr. Pfund was an assistant legal advisor for private international law in the Office of……

  • Breaking: Lago Agrio Plaintiffs Sue Ecuador in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

    Letters Blogatory has learned that the Ecuadoran plaintiffs who obtained a judgment against Chevron in Ecuador have filed a petition against Ecuador before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Here’s the scoop: Chevron is engaged in an investment treaty arbitration against Ecuador under the US/Ecuador bilateral investment treaty. Chevron is seeking orders that would require……

  • Invictus: Speculation About Enforcement Of The Ecuadoran Judgment

    Invictus: Speculation About Enforcement Of The Ecuadoran Judgment

    In Latin, invictus means “unconquered.” The word is most familiar to English readers from William Ernest Henley’s poem of that name: Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not……

  • Case of the Day: Servaas, Inc. v. Republic of Iraq

    The case of the day is Servaas, Inc. v. Republic of Iraq (S.D.N.Y. 2012). According to the underlying judgment of the Paris Commercial Court, Servaas had a contract with the Ministry of Industry of Iraq for supply of equipment and machinery for a copper scrap refinery plant in Anbar Province. The contract, which the parties……