Chapter 5 Legal Environment

Chapter Outline Multiplicity of Legal Environments Legal Systems Jurisdiction and Extraterritoriality Legal Form of Organization Branch vs. Subsidiary Litigation vs. Arbitration

Chapter Outline Bribery -Legal Dimension -Ethical Dimension Intellectual Property -Categories of Intellectual Property -Legal Rights and Requirements

Jurisdiction territorial range of authority a court's legal power to hear a case

Extraterritoriality a country's or court's application of national laws beyond its border

Bribery Legal Dimension: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) - Bribery is "the use of interstate commerce to offer, pay, promise to pay, or authorize giving anything of value to influence an act or decision by a foreign government, politician, or political party to assist in obtaining, retaining, or directing business to any person."

Bribery Types of Payment - Permissible: expediting payments  payments to low-level officials who exercise only "ministerial" or "clerical" functions - Illegal: payments to an official exercising discretionary authority Ethical Dimension - Morality as a function of culture - corporate codes of conduct

Intellectual Property "creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce" Trademark - symbol, word, or thing used to identify a product made or marketed by a particular firm Copyright -protection given to an author or artist for literary, musical, dramatic, and artistic works

Intellectual Property Patent -invention of a scientific or technical nature Trade secret -know-how that is kept secret within a particular business -e.g., manufacturing methods, formulas, plans