International Law

The purpose of this lesson is to provide an introduction to customary law systems and to offer suggestions for researching the laws of countries where customary law is still being practiced.

This lesson will cover how to research the constitutions of countries besides the United States.

This lesson is third in a series that takes a look at performance of agreements governed by the U.N. Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The CISG provides a uniform set of rules for international sales contracts where the parties are located in different signatory countries.

This lesson looks at the international framework for addressing climate change mitigation, as established in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its protocols.

This lesson is second in a series that takes a look at formation of agreements governed by the U.N. Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The CISG provides a uniform set of rules for international sales contracts where the parties are located in different signatory countries. There are 11 separate provisions on contract formation under the CISG. This lesson sets out the basic requisites for determining whether an offer exists, when it is accepted and how to address a battle of the forms if the CISG applies. The general attributes of domestic contracts and other CISG contracts are covered in other lessons.

This lesson is a general introduction to resources and strategies for researching tribunals and truth commissions.

This lesson will give you some background about Regional Organizations, collections of countries, organized by region, engaged in collaborative work toward some common goal. You will learn to find the documents of some of the most important Regional Organizations on the web.

This lesson provides an overview of the history and structure of the European Union, followed by an introduction to researching European Union documents, specifically EU treaties, regulations, directives, and opinions of the European Court of Justice. The European Union is a truly unique structure which represents over half a century of cooperation between select nations.

This lesson is first in a series that takes a look at the basics of agreements governed by the U.N. Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The CISG provides a uniform set of rules for international sales contracts where the parties are located in different signatory countries. While some of the rules parallel those under the common law and Article 2 of the U.C.C., many are different. This lesson sets out the basic requisites for determining when the CISG applies and evaluating contracts governed by the CISG. The general attributes of domestic contracts and CISG contracts are covered in other lessons.

The purpose of this lesson is to guide students who are not experienced in researching private international law. After providing some background on the definition and sources of private international law, this lesson will suggest the initial and follow-up steps that a researcher of a typical issue related to private international law generally should take.

This is an introduction to researching the law relating to intergovernmental and non-governmental agencies. IGOs and NGOs have significant input into international law and finding their resources can be integral to researching international law.

This lesson provides an advanced exploration of patent issues under TRIPS, an important international agreement that binds most countries, including developed and developing countries. This lesson aims to provide students with information concerning pressing issues. It is appropriate for students who have completed the Introduction to TRIPS lesson, as well as students who have some prior exposure to TRIPS, such as students who have studied the agreement in a class on International IP.

This lesson is an introduction to patent issues under TRIPS, an important international agreement that impacts the national patent laws of all member countries of the World Trade Organization. This includes over 170 countries, including not only industrialized countries, but all developing and least developed countries. Because TRIPS imposes restrictions on national law in all countries, understanding TRIPS is important to understanding what changes to patent law is possible - in the United States and beyond.

In this lesson, you will learn about the International Court of Justice, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. After an introduction to the Court, you'll learn about some of the print reporters of the Court's decisions and online sources for these opinions. Finally, there will be a discussion of print and online digests of the Court's decisions.

This lesson will show you the basic tools for finding United Nations materials. It first gives an overview of how the United Nations is organized. It includes descriptions of each of the principal organs of the U.N. and an overview of the United Nations document numbering system. It then shows online tools for United Nations research: the U.N.'s website; the Official Document System; and the U.N. Digital Library.

International environmental law covers many subjects. For the most part, however, international agreements on environmental subjects, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) must be implemented through the domestic law of signatory countries. For example, the United States implements CITES through the federal Endangered Species Act.

The definition and location of customary international law is a difficult research task. This lesson begins by defining customary international law and placing customary international law into context through historical examples. Two research strategies for locating custom will be introduced. The first strategy is to locate pre-defined custom using a source that discusses state practice that has risen to the level of custom. The second and more complex strategy involves searching directly for evidence of customary international law.

This lesson gives the basics of copyright and trademark research, including historical background, statutes, regulations, cases, secondary sources, international materials, and current awareness tools.

This lesson will introduce American environmental law students to general principles of international law, with some examples of how such principles create and influence international environmental law.

This lesson is a follow up to the European Union-Trademark Basics lesson. It presents additional information concerning two topics: "Unusual" marks and Exhaustion of trademark rights. (With regard to the latter, there is a comparison with U.S.

This lesson gives an overview of the basics of the European Union's trademark system. The emphasis is on issues of registration and infringement. It often uses a comparative approach, with the U.S. system as a foil.

This lesson deals with the basics of trademark registration under Section 44 of the Lanham Act. It includes discussions of eligibility under this provision, the value of foreign registrations, issues of priority, and the necessity for use prior to and after registration. It can be used either to learn the subject or for review, but does presume general knowledge of the bases for registration under Section 1 of the Lanham Act.

This lesson explores how trademark law deals with two specific categories of marks: foreign (non-English) words and people's names. It addresses their ability to function as marks as well as how they should be assessed when determining infringement. The lesson assumes a working familiarity with the "distinctiveness" requirement, the fair use doctrine, and the likelihood of confusion test for infringement.

This lesson will introduce you to researching foreign law.