William O. Hennessey
Professor of Law
- AB, Brown University
- PhD, University of Michigan
- JD, Franklin Pierce Law Center
- bhennessey@piercelaw.edu
- (603) 513-5172
- Courses: Public International Law, Trademark Law, World Trade & IP Law & Institutions
- Committees: Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP), Appointments
- Scholarship
Professor Hennessey teaches courses in intellectual property law,
international trade law, the law of traditional peoples, and public
international law. He also directs the Pierce Law - Tsinghua School of Law Intellectual Property
Summer Institute in Beijing, China. He was a
Fulbright Senior Lecturer at Tsinghua in 1998.
Prior to coming to Pierce Law, he worked as an interpreter with delegations of Chinese scientists and policy–makers for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) at the National Academy of Sciences and at hearings before several Congressional sub–committees. He also taught Chinese fiction and poetry at the University of Illinois and Oberlin College from 1979 until 1983. He continues to work as a translation advisor to the Legislative Drafting Office of the State Council of the PRC.
Professor Hennessey is a member of the Advisory Board of the WIPO Worldwide Academy. He has been a regular consultant on international intellectual property issues for WIPO; the United States Patent and Trademark Office and Department of State; the World Bank; Asian Development Bank; U.S. Agency for International Development; and a number of foreign governments. He is the co-author of International Intellectual Property Law and Policy, (Matthew Bender 2006) and International and Comparative Patent Law (Matthew Bender 2002) see the
publisher's site.
"In addition to extricating the people, companies, or even countries who are our clients from problems they already have; we must be able to predict the ones they will encounter in the future. We are asked to gaze into the crystal ball and tell them what we see. But rapid changes in technology, international and domestic politics, the natural environment, and human society challenge our abilities to fulfill this role of legal seer. The past is but a partial teacher. So is our local community. At Pierce Law, we try to bring together people who can extend our vision to the far rim of the globe and of the future. We become better lawyers and ♦ even more importantly ♦ more effective citizens in the global village."
Selected publications
What’s New? Innovating the Teaching of Innovation Law. Journal of Intellectual Property Rights (India) (January 2007)
Patent Protection and its Role in Promoting Invention, Innovation, and Technological Development. WIPO (1999)
Changing Traffic Patterns in Technospace. Michigan State Law Review (2005 MICH. ST. L. REV. 201)
Sustainable Development: A "Win-Win" for Licensing and for the Environment. (March 1996)
Toward A Conceptual Framework for Recognition of Rights for the Holders
of Traditional Knowledge and Folklore. (2002)
Current Practice Concerning Patents on Computer Software in the United
States PTO and Courts. (2002)
Online proceedings of the Pierce Law conference, "The
Greening of Technology Transfer." (April 1994)
