Intellectual Property

Independent Film Production will focus on the many legal and business aspects involved in the production of an independent film including, but not limited to: business creation; production development; financing; copyright clearance, acquisition, and licensing; contract negotiation and drafting in all aspects of production; union issues; film distribution; and many other related subjects. The course will be a mixture of the law relating to each aspect of independent film production and a discussion of the real world application of the skills required to move an independent film from concept to completion to distribution. Course meets remotely and synchronously. Remote synchronous courses are considered a distance education course and credits earned will count toward distance education courses. Students may take up to 41 credits under the 83 credit requirement (43 under the 86 credits requirement) toward their J.D. degree through courses that are designated distance education courses.

If we are truly in the Information Age, then individuals and businesses need to know how to protect their information. Copyright law provides one means of doing so. This course provides an in depth examination of the core principles of U.S. copyright law, including copyrightable subject matter, ownership, infringement, remedies, and defenses. It also explores related rights such as the Visual Art Rights Act of 1990, the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.

This course analyzes the intellectual property and cultural property rights of Tribal Nations in the United States. The course discusses how Tribal Nations may use federal statutes of general applicability to protect their property interests, and how these federal statutes may fail to protect traditional indigenous knowledge. This course also discusses the federal statutes that have been enacted by Congress to specifically safeguard indigenous cultural and intellectual property, and how Tribal Nations have begun enacting tribal laws governing their own cultural property and traditional knowledge.

This course is a skills-development class directed at teaching the specialized legal writing and oral advocacy skills needed to bring appeals of intellectual property disputes before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Through a combination of weekly written assignments, preparation of a written appellate brief, and delivery of an oral argument, students will learn the advocacy skills needed to successfully appeal a patent, trademark or copyright dispute to the CAFC, which has exclusive jurisdiction over such appeals. Students who complete IP Appellate Practice take Advocacy for two credits. Take 1 as PreReq: LAW- 3120, LAW- 3320, LAW- 3470, & LAW- 3530

Introduces the history, philosophy and economics of the patent system, including the policy objectives of the system and the major legal mechanisms by which those objectives are carried out. This introduction focuses on the justifications for the grant of patent rights and the relationship of those justifications to the substantive requirements of statutory subject matter, utility, anticipation and obviousness. This course presents the theory of patent claiming and its linguistic consequences. This is a HyFlex course that will meet at the listed times. We are planning for a portion of the students to participate in-person and a portion to participate remotely and synchronously.

Provides a detailed examination of the substantive law and underlying policies that govern the validity, enforceability, and infringement of patents. The subjects to be treated include claim theory, enablement issues, interference theory, the meaning of "prior art," the Doctrine of Equivalents, contributory infringement and misuse, re-issue and re-examination, remedies, restriction practice and double patenting, design patents, and an overview of internal procedures of the Patent and Trademark Office. This is a HyFlex course that will meet at the listed times. We are planning for a portion of the students to participate in-person and a portion to participate remotely and synchronously. PreReq: LAW- 3470

This course focuses on practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office in the prosecution of applications for patents, and addresses considerations in the preparation of a patent application. The course provides an introduction to claim drafting and studies the application of legal authorities in drafting claims to avoid the prior art. Participants receive an overview of the rules of practice before the Patent and Trademark Office as they relate to both pre-issuance and post-issuance procedures.

This course provides an in-depth examination of trade secret law, including the scope of protection, the prerequisites for protection, and the elements of a claim for trade secret misappropriation. In contrast to other IP courses, trade secret law is primarily based upon state law. Thus, students will learn how to read, interpret, and apply state law and how differences in theway states interpret and apply trade secret law may alter the outcome of a case.

Provides an in depth analysis of the fundamental issues involved in protecting indicia of source. The basics concepts in trademark, trade dress, and unfair competition are covered. The subject matter of trademark law, the scope of trademark rights, infringement, defenses and remedies are presented. This course also covers the protection of trademarks when registered as domain names under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy.

Based on the foundation created in Trademark Law, this course will help equip students with the skills to be a trademark practitioner as well as an active participant in the discourse regarding trademark jurisprudence in the United States today. Subjects covered include practice before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, unique aspects of trademark litigation, including the use of expert witnesses, and an advanced exposition on the future of trademark jurisprudence. Take 1 as PreReq: LAW-3320 OR LAW-3530

From a legal point of view, there is a lot more to cybersecurity than the mechanics of how to secure computers and mobile devices. This course begins with the identification of the various types of information that are commonly used and stored by businesses. It then examines the legal theories and strategies by which such information can be protected, including contract law and trade secret law. Next it considers the legal obligations that information holders have to maintain the privacy, confidentiality and security of information and the potential liability that flows from a failure to do so. Technological strategies and standards for securing information that is held in digital form are also discussed.

The primary focus of the course will be on international and comparative patent law, but the course will also address some facets of international trademark and copyright law. The course will present a comparative study of certain features of foreign patent laws. It will also overview the major multilateral treaties that govern the transnational assertion of patent protection of United States laws that are specifically directed to the protection of U.S. patent rights against foreign activities. Students may take this course for 2 or 3 credits. Students planning to satisfy the long paper requirement in this course, and students who have already satisfied the long paper requirement and plan to write another long paper in this course, should register for three credits. This is a HyFlex course that will meet at the listed times. We are planning for a portion of the students to participate in-person and a portion to participate remotely and synchronously.

This class is about the First Amendment and the Free Press. We will discuss a selection of the legal issues generated by the activities of the mass media. We will consider regulations of print, broadcast, and electronic media, including laws that govern obscenity and pornography, laws aimed at balancing free press and fair trial rights, and laws meant to preserve multiple voices in a market. We will explore publication-related issues such as libel and invasion of privacy, and newsgathering-related issues such as the extent of the reporter's privilege and restrictions on access to information. We will examine common law, regulatory law including Federal Communications Commission regulations, and statutory law including the Freedom of Information Act, but the primary focus of the course will be on how the First Amendment limits governmental control over the media. The final grade will be based on class participation, an exam, and preparation of a paper on a topic selected by the student and approved by the professor. With the professor's prior approval, students may prepare a "long paper" to satisfy the Advanced Research and Writing requirement. You will get three credits if you write a long paper (which you may do even if you’ve already satisfied the long paper requirement) and two credits if you write a shorter paper. This is a seminar course with limited enrollment. Students may take this course for 2 or 3 credits. Students planning to satisfy the long paper requirement in this course, and students who have already satisfied the long paper requirement and plan to write another long paper in this course, should register for three credits.