This concentration will provide a comprehensive introduction to the principal theories of trademark law and unfair competition, patent law, copyright law, and related state and federal doctrines.

Sample course descriptions follow:

Copyright Law – A comprehensive course on the law of literary and artistic property, with emphasis on mastering the technical intricacies of the 1976 Copyright Act and its many complex recent amendments, including the cyberspace rules introduced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Subject matter treated will include literary characters; musical works; pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; industrial designs; motion pictures and plays; sound recordings; computer programs and databases. Throughout the course, effort is made to clarify the relations between artistic property and industrial property (especially patents) in the United States and at the international level. Students are encouraged to think critically about the unresolved economic and policy issues facing creators and innovators in an Information Age, issues that often reflect a larger, ongoing debate within the framework of the world's intellectual property system.

Patent Law and Policy - This course provides a comprehensive introduction to patent law and policy. No technical background is required. The course begins by addressing the history of patents as well as the policy arguments for and against using patents as a mechanism for inducing innovation. Following this introduction, the class will address in depth the central patentability criteria of subject matter, utility, non-obviousness, and disclosure, then learn the basics of patent drafting and prosecution, patent claims, and claim construction. Other topics of importance that are covered in the class include: the relationship between patents and other forms of intellectual property protection, particularly trade secrecy and copyright; the intersection of patent and antitrust law; the role of the two major institutions responsible for administering the patent system, the Patent and Trademark Office and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; and the role of patents in the two major industries of the knowledge-based economy, information technology and biotechnology.

Trademark Law and Unfair Competition - Current trademark and unfair competition law will be inspected from three different view points: theory, case law, and litigation strategy. Course covers elements of trademark law, including the historical basis of trademark law, trademarks under state law and the Federal Trademark Act; trademark selection, searching and registration procedure in the US Patent and Trademark Office; trade dress; dilution of famous marks; trademark infringement and enforcement; counterfeit and passive off; international trademark practice and trademark licensing.

Other upper level IP electives may include Advanced Copyright: Digital Technologies; Law in the Digital Environment; Intellectual Property Rights and the Biopharmaceutical Industry; International Intellectual Property; and Patent Claim Drafting.