Intellectual Property

(Law 834; 3 credits)
This course will survey the major statutes protecting intellectual property – trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets – together with related common law doctrines. The course will emphasize basic theories of legal protection as well as the limits on this protection that are designed to preserve a public domain of freely accessible information. The course will introduce students to practical aspects of handling intellectual property, such as patent and trademark applications, licensing of intellectual property and handling of employee inventions. Students will explore the law’s response to new technologies, the preemption of state laws by federal patent law, the impact of international agreements covering intellectual property and the relationship of intellectual property to social justice and economic development.
Return to Course Index