

1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 400
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Vice President, Legal Policy and Copyright Counsel, Copyright Alliance
Co-Founder, Executive Producer, and Director, Nautilus Productions
Legal Fellow
Devlin Hartline is Legal Fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Forum for Intellectual Property, researching a broad spectrum of doctrinal and political issues in intellectual property law.
Please be advised: This event will premiere on this page at 12:00 p.m. EDT, Monday, October 25. Register for the event here
Join Hudson Institute Legal Fellow Devlin Hartline and expert panelists Kristen Osenga, Kevin Madigan, and Rick Allen to discuss state sovereign immunity for intellectual property infringement.
Under the Eleventh Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, states enjoy sovereign immunity that generally prevents individuals from suing states in federal court for monetary damages or injunctive relief. In the early 1990s, Congress passed legislation abrogating state sovereign immunity for patent, trademark, and copyright infringement, thus allowing lawsuits against states for intellectual property infringements. However, the courts have held that Congress did not have the authority to abrogate sovereign immunity using its powers under the Commerce Clause and Intellectual Property Clause of Article I.
The Supreme Court has indicated that Congress can use its power under the Fourteenth Amendment to abrogate state sovereign immunity, but it must first show that states' infringements are widespread and persistent, intentional or reckless, and unremedied under state law. So far, the courts held that Congress did not have an adequate record when it attempted abrogation in the early 1990s. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office recently conducted studies to gauge the extent and character of infringements by states. The panelists will discuss the problems of state infringements and explore whether Congress now has enough evidence to abrogate state sovereign immunity for intellectual property infringements. Please join Hudson Institute for this important discussion.
Please join Hudson Senior Fellow and Director of the Keystone Defense Initiative Rebeccah Heinrichs for a conversation with Senators Risch and Wicker on US support for Ukraine’s defense on Wednesday, March 29, at 4:00 p.m. A reception will follow.
Please join Hudson Institute for a discussion with Israel's Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Ofir Akunis and Executive Director of the Abraham Accords Peace Institute Robert Greenway, moderated by Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East Director Michael Doran.
Please join Hudson Institute to discuss what has gone wrong with US policy toward Venezuela and how the Biden administration and 118th Congress can reinvigorate efforts to support democracy so that all Venezuelans can have a brighter future.
Join Hudson Institute for a conversation on these issues and more with Ambassador Adela Raz, former ambassador of Afghanistan to the US and visiting fellow at Hudson Institute, and Ambassador Husain Haqqani, former ambassador of Pakistan to the US and director of Hudson Institute’s South and Central Asia program.