Categories: Intellectual Property

Instructor(s)

Ard, BJ

Course Data

Room remotely delivered: synchronously (see day/time)
MW 2:40pm-4:00pm

Pass/Fail: Yes

Past Grade Distributions (Fall '22 and onward)
Fall 2022

Course Description

Intellectual property has grown increasingly important in business and in cultural life with the rise of the information economy. This course is accordingly appropriate for those pursuing a career in IP as well as those seeking a foundational understanding of IP to carry into other practice areas. Over the course of the semester, we will investigate trade secret, patent, copyright, and trademark on their own terms and in relation to each other. We will pay particular attention to legal challenges made salient by emerging technologies and by the digital distribution of creative works.

There are no prerequisites, and all interested students are encouraged to enroll: a science or technical background is not required.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completing this course, students will be prepared to:

1. Describe and distinguish trade secret, patent, copyright, and trademark along each of the following dimensions:
a. What sorts of things can be protected?
b. How does one acquire ownership rights?
c. What sorts of copying or other acts constitute infringement?
d. What specific exceptions or defenses limit the scope of protection?
e. What remedies is a court likely to award upon finding infringement?

2. Articulate the utilitarian goals for each of these IP regimes.

3. Make and critically assess arguments both for and against liability in disputed cases.

4. Advise innovators, entrepreneurs, and consumers on how to navigate the IP challenges presented by emerging technologies.

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