Skill – 1 unit. This skill-based course focuses on advocacy skills in the context of patent litigation. With minimal lectures, students will learn by doing and receiving real-time feedback. The class will be taught as a series of collaborative projects, negotiation simulations, brief writing, and mock court arguments. Among other things, students will learn how to effectively advocate on their feet and distill highly technical material into content more easily understood by a judge and jury – skills that are useful beyond patent litigation.
Discussion - 2 units. Artificial intelligence ("A.I. ") plays an increasingly prominent role in our lives and multiplies our ability to innovate and produce. But if society fails to create meaningful legal rules for A.I., innovation can come at a high cost for individuals' rights and liberties. This course looks at A.I.'s seemingly infinite possibilities and discusses where should the legal boundaries begin and end, including: What risks should be evaluated and mitigated when building A.I. systems? Who should "own" the knowledge derived from personal information, and how should it be used?
Lecture - This course examines the law surrounding art and cultural heritage. The focus will be on copyright, cultural property, and cultural heritage laws. Students will have the opportunity to consider U.S.
Skills - This skills-based course introduces students to practical application of legal concepts in client counseling and drafting of effective business documents. Students will engage with each other in real-life problem solving, drafting, and textual analysis in the context of a multiple rounds of review and redlining. The emphasis is on dynamic commercial negotiations and expectations of lawyers common in the tech industry, but the core skills are transferrable to other areas of practice.
Discussion – 3 hours. This course surveys approaches to privacy regulation around the globe, including a comparison of regulatory frameworks and different policy solutions. The course also introduces the major international privacy regulatory and enforcement institutions. Core lecturing will focus on the European General Data Protection Regulation and how it compares with US law.
Discussion - 3 hours. This course examines the ethical, legal, and social issues that arise from research on and use of biomedical technologies. The course introduces and critically evaluates the dominant principlist approach to Western bioethics. It uses interdisciplinary methods, including critical theory and science and technology studies to consider the role of law on issues arising from biotechnology and science-based knowledge systems that implicate social norms and personal values.
Discussion - 3 hours. We will thoroughly examine the law of copyright, including its application to literature, music, films, fashion, architecture, television, art, computer programs, and the Internet. Issues addressed include: what works are eligible for copyright protection, the copyright owner's rights, the term of protection, copyright ownership and transfer, infringement, and defenses to infringement.
Discussion - 3 hours. This course provides a broad survey of intellectual property law. Areas covered include trade secrets, patents, copyrights, and trademarks. We will examine legal doctrine as well as the theories and policies animating the intellectual property system. In exploring these topics, we will frequently consider the challenges posed by recent technological advances. No technical background is required.
Classroom Policies: This course has a participation policy. Final Assessment: Exam
Seminar - 2 hours. This course examines from a globalized perspective a broad range of internet governance issues, ranging from free speech ideologies, criminal speech regulations, copyright, digital intermediary liability, administrative censorship online, online anonymity regulation, “right to be forgotten”, privacy and data protection, net neutrality, MLAT, cybersecurity, intersection with AI, etc., drawing from established cases and practices of constitutional law, antitrust law, communications law, and international human rights/economic law around the world.
Discussion - 3 hours. This course covers all essential aspects of patent law, including: prosecution, post-grant proceedings, patentable subject matter, utility, enablement and description, novelty, statutory bars, nonobviousness, infringement, and remedies. Students will examine legal doctrine as well as the patent system's public policy objectives and theoretical foundations. This course is designed for both the non-patent specialist as well as the future patent attorney. No scientific background is required.
