Elon Law professor David Levine was one of five law scholars to work closely with The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) on a February 16 submission to the U.S. Trade Representative, urging the Obama Administration to seek congressional approval before entering into the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
The submission to the United States Trade Representative (USTR), signed by a coalition of 30 legal and international trade scholars including Levine and Elon Law professor Eric Fink, argues that the Obama Administration lacks constitutional authority to enter into ACTA with congressional approval.
The submission was co-authored by PIJIP Associate Director Sean Flynn, working closely with Levine and Brook Baker, Northeastern School of Law; Anthony Falzone, Stanford Law School; Kevin Outterson, Boston University School of Law; and Christopher Sprigman, University of Virginia School of Law. The submission was co-signed by a large group of prominent intellectual property professors from around the country.
The submission states, “The unconstitutionality of the process by which the Obama Administration intends to implement ACTA is further highlighted by the fact ACTA will constrain U.S. law by locking in the policy choices ACTA makes and the requirements it imposes. The choice of whether to adopt substantive constraints on U.S. law must be made with Congressional participation.”
In October, Levine coauthored a letter urging the Obama administration to halt its public endorsement of ACTA, citing a lack of transparency and public input in deliberations shaping the international intellectual property agreement. The letter also stated that ACTA would usurp congressional authority over intellectual property policy in a number of ways.
Click here or on the E-Cast link adjacent to this article to read the full submission to the USTR.
Click here for more information about David Levine.