Course offerings and faculty

IPSI

Curriculum

Counterfeit Product and Intellectual Property

1 credit, Kirsten Koepsel

The purpose of the course is provide the student with a broad understanding of counterfeiting and it's economic impact and what legal/enforcement practices are used to control it both nationally and internationally, including how does counterfeiting affect copyright/trademark/patent holders as well as the impact it has on society and trade.

Financial Principles of IP Management

1 credit, Gordon Smith

An examination of the financial and economic principles that underlie the valuation and exploitation of intellectual property in business. Discussion includes accounting concepts and investment theory.

Global IP Management

1 credit, Michael Gollin and Leo Jennings

Intellectual property (IP) management skills are increasingly important for innovation in a global economy. IP management involves implementing strategies for organizations to protect their own innovations with IP rights (trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks and patents), while accessing the innovations of others. This course presents IP management strategies in view of innovation dynamics, and provides practical examples of how IP laws can be applied to meet organizational goals. Through lectures, classroom discussions, exercises, and a final report, the class covers the legal and historical background of the modern IP system, and provides practical steps for selecting a strategy appropriate to an organization's mission, resources, and competitive environment, and then implementing that strategy. Students will learn to identify goals, assess intellectual property portfolios, and define IP legal issues, to increase assets, reduce liabilities, improve market share, and promote partnering. By the end of the course, students will be able to identify, improve, and implement strategies for managing intellectual property, to promote competitive advantage in a changing world.

International and Comparative Patent Law

2 credits, Konrad Becker

International and regional treaties and non-U.S. patent systems, including the Paris Convention, Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and European Patent System.

International and Comparative Trademark Law

2 credits, Sujata Chaudhri

Explains the provisions relating to trademarks of the international and regional intellectual property treaties (such as Paris Conventions, the GATT TRIPS Agreement, OAPI and ARIPO in Africa, NAFTA and the Andean Pact in America, trademark harmonization in Europe) and the 1994 Trademark Law Treaty, and gives a comprehensive introduction to the Madrid System for the international registration of marks and to the Community Trademark System.

International Entertainment Law

2 credits, Mary LaFrance

This course addresses the international legal issues arising in the film, television, music, theatre, publishing, and other entertainment industries. Topics include: acquiring and enforcing foreign intellectual property rights, negotiating immigration and organized labor restrictions on the hiring and/or deployment of talent abroad, exploiting international financing opportunities, distributing recorded entertainment worldwide, collecting overseas royalties and other revenues, and protecting foreign merchandising rights, as well as issues relating to trade barriers, treaty compliance, and transnational litigation.

IP Crimes

2 credits, Keith Harrison

Overview forthcoming.

Legal Aspects of an Artist's Career

1 credit, Valerie Lovely

Overview forthcoming.

Legal Aspects of Songwriting

1 credit, Valerie Lovely

Overview forthcoming.

Legal Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity

1 credit, Mrinalini Kochupillai

Overview forthcoming.

Mining Patent Information in the Digital Age

2 credits, Jon Cavvichi

Introduction to a wide range of computerized search and research tools currently available for patent searching and computer intelligence and strategies for their effective use.

Nonprofit Technology Transfer

2 credits, Karen Hersey

The purpose of this course is to equip students with the background necessary to effectively advise nonprofit organizations such as universities on legal, policy and implementation issues, strategies and customary business practices useful in transferring technologies derived from academic research to the commercial marketplace. The course is also useful for individuals who may be working in law firms or businesses that participate in commercializing university technology.

Pharmaceutical Patent Law

1 credit, Joy Ouellette

Pharmaceutical patent law is a niche field with worldwide implications. Building on the concepts learned in a basic patent law course, this course is designed to foster awareness and understanding of the intricacies involved when patent law converges with regulatory law in the pharmaceutical realm to foster innovation while providing the public access to life-saving medicines. This course will focus on the challenges faced by both innovator (brand) and generic pharmaceutical companies and the strategies implemented by such companies In their efforts to retain or capture market share. Topics include an overview of the Hatch-Waxman Act and its practical guidance of the brand and generic drug approval process, Orange Book Listing requirements, pharmaceutical patent drafting, challenging pharmaceutical patents, paragraph IV litigation, settlements, and antitrust concerns.

Software Licensing

2 credits, Ron Weikers

Because software is integral to almost all businesses, attorneys and contract professionals who specialize in software licensing have seen a steady growth in business. Software Licensing will explore the drafting and negotiation of software license agreements. We will engage in pragmatic drafting and negotiation exercises throughout the semester, which will provide valuable skills for your careers. We will learn about the contractual and intellectual property underpinnings of software-related agreements, including contract information, license grants, ownership, acceptance, confidentiality, breach, warranties, warranty waivers, damages, limitations of liability, remedies and much more. We will also learn how business decisions and litigation concerns will impact your role as an effective software contract negotiator and drafter. Most classes will also feature an attorney or business person who drafts and negotiates software licenses on a regular basis.

Technology Licensing

2 credits

Detailed drafting of clauses and agreements negotiated to implement creative business arrangements for licensing intellectual property from your client to another and from another to your client. Considers determinative financial factors and other practical factors in the context of actual licensing situations.

Telecommunications

2 credits, Russ Hanser

This course will provide an overview of telecommunications law and policy in the United States. Topics covered will include (but will not be limited to) the following: the structure of contemporary telecommunications networks; the legal regimes governing inter-carrier payments, universal service, spectrum use, wiretapping, privacy and other consumer protections; and the role of law, politics, and economics in the policy-making process. Special focus will be placed on issues arising from the sweeping technological and marketplace developments reshaping telecommunications regulation, including the growth of next-generation broadband networks and Internet protocol applications.

Faculty

Konrad Becker

Jon Cavvichi

Sujata Chaudhri

Michael Gollin

Russ Hanser

Keith Harrison

Karen Hersey

Leo Jennings

Mrinalini Kochupillai

Kirsten Koepsel

Mary LaFrance

Valerie Lovely

Joy Ouellette

Gordon Smith

Ron Weikers