Blanket Authorities Initiatives

Simply stated, "blanket authority" is the process through which an ABA section or division seeks approval from other ABA entities to present its own view, rather than an official ABA position, to a governmental body. In general, this procedure is employed when the subject matter of the position is extremely technical and when a time-sensitive need exists and it is not possible to have either the ABA House of Delegates or ABA Board of Governors go through the regular process for adopting Association policy.

Below is a list of current blanket authority initiatives of the Section. Please be advised that members must follow the policy procedure and usage guidelines outlined in the American Bar Association’s Constitution and Bylaws, Rules of Procedure of the House of Delegates. The handbook on blanket authority can be found at Blanket Authority Handbook 2007-2008.pdf.

Joint Comments on Draft Amendments to Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China. Cover Letter | Comments

Comments on certain expansions of the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of International Trade as set out in the proposed Court of International Trade Improvement Act of 2008.

Joint comments on the Australian Commonwealth Treasury’s Discussion Paper on Creeping Acquisitions Cover Letter | Comments

Joint comments regarding the Israel Antitrust Authority’s proposed Amendment to the Restrictive Trade Practices Law, 5748-1988 for the purpose of Regulating Oligopolies  Cover Letter | Comments

Joint Comments to the European Commission Regarding its Draft Notice on Remedies Acceptable under Council Regulation (EEC) No 139/2004 and under Commission Regulation (EC) No 802/2004. Cover Letter | Comments

Joint Comments Regarding the Draft Guidelines on the Assessment of Non- horizontal Mergers Under the Council Regulation on the Control of Concentrations Between Undertakings. Cover Letter | Comments

Comments on Canadian Competition Bureau's Request for Public Comments on the Draft Information Bulletin on the Abuse of Dominance Provisions as Applied to the Telecommunications Industry.

Comments to the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security regarding the proposed regulation “Revision and Clarification of Export and Reexport Controls for the Peoples’ Republic of China: New Authorization Validated End-User.” – sent 12/14/06, valid through 3/14/07

Joint comments on draft amendments (Draft Amendments) to the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), published for comments on July 31, 2006 by the PRC State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO). – sent 9/12/06, valid through 12/12/06

Comments to the U.S. Department of State regarding the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts – sent 6/8/06, valid through 6/7/08

Comments to the Commission of the European Communities on the Commission’s Discussion Paper on the Application of Article 82 of the Treaty to Exclusionary Abuses – sent 6/5/06, valid through 6/4/08

Comments to the Commission of the European Communities on damage action for breaches of EU antitrust rules – sent 5/1/06, valid through 4/30/08

Comments to the Antitrust Modernization Commission regarding the role of comity in international competition law enforcement – sent 3/29/06, valid through 6/27/06

Joint Comments on the Competition Bureau (Canada) Information Bulletin on the Communication and Treatment of Information under the Competition Act – sent 3/29/06, valid through 6/27/06

Comments to the Securities and Exchange Commission Release No. 34-5020, International Series Release No. 1295 Termination of a Foreign Private Issuer’s Registration of a Class of Securities Under Section 12(g) and Duty to File Reports Under Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 – sent 3/17/06, valid through 3/16/08

Joint comments on the Competition Bureau Draft Information Bulletin on Merger Remedies in Canada – sent 3/1/06, valid through 5/29/06

Joint comments to the Antitrust Modernization Commission regarding international topics and immunities and exemption – sent 9/1/05, valid through 8/30/07

Joint Comments to the Commonwealth of Australia regarding the draft legislation providing criminal penalties for serious cartel conduct.
Cover Letter | Comments

Joint Comments to the Japan Fair Trade Commission regarding its Proposed Amendments to the Japan Antimonopoly Law.
Cover Letter I Comments

Joint Comments to the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council regarding the Draft for Comments of the State Council Regulations on Notifications of Concentrations of Undertakings.
Cover Letter I Comments

Joint Comments on Proposed Draft of the Competition Commission of India (General) Regulations, Draft Competition Commission (Lesser Penalty) Regulations, and Draft Competition Commission (Determination of Cost of Production) Regulations.

Comments to the Commission of the European Communities regarding its White Paper on damages actions for breach of the EC antitrust rules and the accompanying Commission Staff Working Paper and Commission Staff Impact Assessment Report
Cover Letter | Comments