Supreme Court Decision Syllabus (SCOTUS Podcast)
Following what the Supreme Court is actually doing can be daunting. Reporting on the subject is often only done within the context of political narratives of the day -- and following the Court's decisions and reading every new case can be a non-starter. The purpose of this Podcast is to make it as easy as possible for members of the public to source information about what is happening at the Supreme Court. For that reason, we read every Opinion Syllabus without any commentary whatsoever. Further, there are no advertisements or sponsors. We call it "information sourcing," and we hope that the podcast is a useful resource for members of the public who want to understand the legal issues of the day, prospective law students who want to get to know legal language and understand good legal writing, and attorneys who can use the podcast to be better advocates for their clients.
*Note this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only.
Supreme Court Decision Syllabus (SCOTUS Podcast)
Abitron v. Hetronic (Lanham Act)
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In Abitron v. Hetronic, the Supreme Court answered whether certain sections of the Lanham Act were unconstitutionally extraterritorial. To decide this issue, the Court applies a two-part test. It first looks to: 1) whether “Congress has affirmatively and unmistakably instructed for the statute to regulate foreign conduct; and if part-one finds it is not extraterritorial, the analysis turns to 2) whether the statute seeks a (permissible) domestic or (impermissible) foreign application of the statute in question. Justice Alito, writing for the majority, held that the Lanham Act is not extraterritorial, it did not adopt the position that any claim under the Lanham Act could be domestic, wherever it takes place, if there is a likelihood of causing confusion in the United States. Read by Jake A. Leahy.