Intellectual Property LawRecognizing that intellectual property plays an increasingly important role in domestic and international commerce and in cultural and economic life, the James E. Rogers College of Law offers a vibrant and expanding curriculum in this field of law. Our program provides a strong foundation in intellectual property law, with core courses in Copyright, Patents, and Trademarks & Unfair Competition. We also offer an IP survey course. The College builds on this foundation with more specialist options in areas such as International Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property Management, and Human Rights and Intellectual Property. (Not all of the optional courses and seminars are offered every year: students should consult the College of Law webpages for information on offerings in any particular year.) With a growing number classes and seminars in this field, Arizona Law offers students the opportunity to tailor their programs to suit their interests and career aspirations. Our intellectual property courses also offer opportunities to sample one or more intellectual property classes, an option that may be helpful for students who would like to explore this important commercial law topic, but do not wish to specialize in this area.

For further information about the IP Program at Arizona Law, click here.

Faculty

J. Byron McCormick Professor Graeme Austin received B.A., LL.B. and LL.M. degrees from Victoria University in New Zealand and an LL.M. and S.J.D. from Columbia. He teaches and writes in the areas of international intellectual property law, trademarks and unfair competition. He is a member of the American Law Institute (ALI), the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand, and the Association Littéraire et Artistique Internationale. A specialist in the field of cross-border enforcement of intellectual property, he has been a plenary speaker at the World Intellectual Property Organization on this topic, and served as an advisor to the ALI’s project on IP and international private law.  He is co-author of International Intellectual Property (LEXISNEXIS, forthcoming 2008), and is currently working on a book on Human Rights and Intellectual Property (Cambridge U Press, forthcoming, 2009). (On sabbatical leave 2008/9.)

Affiliated Faculty Professor Barak Orbach teaches and writes in the area of Antitrust and Intellectual Property
Professor Jamie Ratner teaches and writes in the Antitrust field.
Professor David Gantz teaches and writes in the field of International Trade Law.
Professor Melissa L. Tatum directs the Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program and is an expert on cultural property.

Course and Seminar OfferingsPatent Law. This course covers the fundamental principles of patent law and highlights the relationship of patent law to other areas of intellectual property law (e.g., trade secrets). The course focuses on the principles of patent law, important litigation and patent drafting strategies, and the rapidly evolving case law in this area. Topics covered will include patentability requirements, infringement, remedies, patent prosecution issues, the doctrine of equivalents, claim interpretation, and the economic principles that underlie patent law

Copyright Law. This course provides an overview of the main principles of U.S. copyright law, and focuses on issues such as qualification for copyright protection, ownership and transfers, and the exclusive rights of the copyright owner. It also examines emerging and rapidly developing forms of liability for copyright infringement, including secondary liability for peer-to-peer networks, and the new law relating to circumvention of access controls. Defenses to copyright infringement, such as “fair use,” are also considered.

Trademarks & Unfair Competition. One of the most important, and most misunderstood, forms of business assets, trademarks are vital tools of commercial activity. The Trademarks and Unfair Competition course provides a thorough grounding in the principal doctrines and statutes in U.S. trademark law, emphasizing trademark law’s role in domestic commerce and the policies underlying the law.

Intellectual Property Law Survey. This is a survey course covering the main areas of intellectual property law - patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. It introduces each subject and explores commonalities and differences among different systems of intellectual property protection.  This course is intended for the non-specialist interested in a general introduction to intellectual property law.  This course is not intended for students wishing to practice in one, or more, of the areas of intellectual property law. 

Intellectual Property Transactions. This seminar provides a practical overview of commercial dealings in intellectual property assets such as brands, copyrighted materials, technology, and know-how. The course will cover a series of discrete topics, including intellectual property licensing, patent portfolio management, new media issues, patenting of the human genome, and internet law. Guest lecturers from leading law firms, the University, and local companies are an integral part of the seminar. In addition to lectures, students will be required to complete practice-oriented assignments and to take part in a licensing negotiation exercise.

Colloquium on Technology, Innovation, and Intellectual Property Policy (Substantial Paper Option).  In this colloquium, leading intellectual property professors from around the United States present works in progress at three-weekly workshops.  In the weeks leading up to the presentations, students work with the Colloquium professors to prepare for the presentation.  The Colloquium provides the opportunity to expose students to some of the best scholarship in the field of intellectual property currently being produced. For more information about the Colloquium, please click here.  (Due to sabbatical leaves, the Colloquium will not run in 2008.)

Entrepreneurship Law Program. This course offers students a unique opportunity to gain experience advising clients on a range of legal matters in a small-business startup setting. Students will work as partners in a mock law firm that will act as the outside counsel for approximately twenty students groups involved in the Eller College’s Entrepreneurship program. Legal issues students are likely to encounter include (1) the legal structuring of firms and their employment relationships; (2) the management and protection of technological assets, as through intellectual property rights, trade secrecy, creation of industry standards, strategic alliances, and licensing; and (3) mechanisms of raising capital on the basis of a technological asset. A local practicing attorney, as well as lawyers from the University Office of Technology Transfer, will work closely with students taking part in the clinic. A seminar designed to complement the clinic will be offered each semester in either business planning or intellectual property management.

Global Antitrust and Intellectual Property. In today’s global economy, many transactions and disputes involve interrelated antitrust and intellectual property issues.  Examples include transactions in intellectual property rights, R&D joint ventures, business practices that are designed to protect intellectual property, and business practices that aim at maximizing profits from trade in intellectual-property protected products. This course examines the intersection of antitrust and intellectual-property laws, its traditional applications, and contemporary applications in global markets.  The course will review antitrust principles and their applications in creative industries. 

International Intellectual Property. Examining key public and private international law issues, this seminar is concerned with legal questions distilled by the increasing internationalization of intellectual property law. It emphasizes legal responses to transnational infringement of intellectual property rights, an important issue for most firms interested in expanding their business across international borders. Key public international law instruments that regulate international intellectual property law are also considered. In addition, the seminar provides an opportunity to engage in comparative analysis of the approaches of different intellectual property regimes to various policy issues.

Human Rights and Intellectual Property. This seminar explores the emerging relationship between intellectual property and human rights law. Recently, human rights concerns have been asserted in a number of contexts as counterweights to the expansion of intellectual property rights. Human rights issues are relevant in a range of issues and contexts that intersect with intellectual property protection, including: freedom of expression; public health; education and literacy; privacy; agriculture; technology transfer; rights of indigenous peoples. At the same time, creators of intellectual property are asserting human rights bases for the protection and expansion of intellectual property rights. The seminar will explore the implications for domestic and international intellectual property law of these kinds of human rights claims and some of the key tensions between them. It will be of interest to students focusing on intellectual property, indigenous peoples’ law and policy, human rights, and public international law.