To earn a Certificate in Intellectual Property with a Patent Law specialty, a student must complete the eighty-six (86) semester hours required for the Juris Doctor degree and satisfy all JD requirements. Within the elective course work required for the JD degree, a student must fulfill the following requirements:
Course Requirements
Electives
Choose two from the list below. If the student does not take Advanced Legal Writing: Patents or Seminar: Advanced Concepts in Patent Law, one of the two elective courses must be a seminar or practicum.
*Satisfy the senior seminar requirement. Please note that not every seminar is offered every year.
+Courses marked with a + are considered "Practicum" courses
LAW 447
PATENT LAW
This course is designed for two types of students: (1) those who intend to practice in the area of patent law specifically; and (2) those who plan to enter into a generalized intellectual property practice. Students explore concepts and selected problems in patent law and examine the impact of policy considerations on patent statutes and jurisdictions. The course covers all substantive aspects of patent law, including patentable subject matter; patent disclosure requirements; patentability requirements; infringement - both literal and under the doctrine of equivalents; defenses; and remedies.
LAW 250
SENIOR RESEARCH SEMINAR
(3 hrs) Required for JD. The student must write an in-depth paper of Law Review quality on a topic of the professor's choosing.
LAW 455
LEGAL DRAFTING
(3 hrs) Legal drafting courses on various topics give students an opportunity to hone their research and writing skills on an advanced legal. Students may take one course per semester. All courses are limited enrollment.
LAW 470
ADVANCED PATENT LAW
Required for a Certificate in Intellectual Property with a Patent Specialty. Provides a more practical perspective and application of the doctrines covered in the basis Patent Law course. Among the topics covered are patent searches, claim drafting, re-examination and reissue considerations, design patents, international patents, and licensing. 3credit hours.
Prerequisites:
LAW 447 is a prerequisite for this class.
LAW 489
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SURVEY
(3 hrs) Surveys the legal interests recognized by American law in intellectual and artistic creations. Legal problems involved in the economic exploitation of intellectual and artistic property rights also are discussed. No credit if completed Intellectual Property: Copyrights and Trademarks (LAW 339).
Prerequisites:
LAW 339 is a prerequisite for this class.
LAW 271
TRADEMARK & UNFAIR COMPETITION LAW
(2 credits) This course will be a substantive and procedural discussion of the creation and enforcement of trademark rights and the rights conferred by statutory and common law under the general rubric of unfair competition law. Topics may include trademark law (including dilution), misappropriation of trade values and trade secrets, regulation of false and deceptive advertising, interference with contracts and trade relations and the right of publicity.
LAW 344
COPYRIGHT LAW
This course will provide an in-depth study of the theory and application of copyright law. Subjects include copyright history and theory, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, renewal and reversion, ownership issues, and a study of the interface between the economic aspects of copyright and the personal interests of authors.
LAW 337
BIOTECHNOLOGY PATENT STRATEGIES FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM
(3 hrs) Designed for students with an interest in the biotechnology aspect of patent law. Covers enablement, utility, claim drafting, means plus function language, obviousness, and the patentability of nucleic acid sequence and expressed sequence stages.
LAW 338
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FOR CORPORATE TRANSACTIONAL LAWYERS
(3 hrs) For students interested primarily in a corporate practice. Focuses on issues a corporate practitioner should be aware of regarding transactions involving the transfer of intellectual property assets or technology, such as the sale and licensing of intellectual property generally, licensing software, Internet law, advertising clearance and litigation.
Prerequisites:
LAW 105 is a prerequisite for this class.
LAW 341
CYBERLAW
3 credit hours. This course provides a survey of selected topics in the rapidly evolving area of law applied to cyberspace and the internet. The course touches upon numerous areas of substantive law such as intellectual property, torts, jurisdiction, and privacy and the First Amendment, explores how courts have applied the law to the internet, and raises the important policy questions underlying the application of law to this new medium.
LAW 357
ENTERTAINMENT LAW
(3 hrs) Focuses on various aspects of entertainment law practice including performance contracts, managers and agents, recording and publishing agreements and music licensing.
LAW 454
INTERNATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Examines the growing importance of intellectual property in the international context. Covers the scope of protection granted trademarks, copyrights and patents in foreign jurisdictions so that effective comparisions can be made between foreign and demestic law. Explores the scope and substance of international treaties. Strategies for obtaining cost effective intellectual property protection in the global economy will be examined. 3 credit hours.
Prerequisites:
LAW 271, LAW 344, LAW 447 or LAW 489 is a prerequisite for this class.
LAW 508
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS
(3 credit hours) Reviews the powers and procedures of federal, state and local administrative bodies as they affect private parties, including administrative jurisdiction, adjudication, rulemaking, methods of decision, rules of evidence and judicial review.
LAW 514
LEGAL CLINIC II
(3-6 hrs) Students work in one of the clinic modules under the supervision of a clinical attorney concentrating on real life problems with real clients and organizations. Instructor's permission required.
LAW 524
FIELD PLACEMENT
2 or 3 credit hours. This program is designed to give upper level students practical experience in an externship with a public agency, non-profit organization, member of the judiciary, or for-profit organization, such as a private law firm or in-house counsel for a corporation. Upper level students, who have at least 28 credit hours and a GPA of 2.0, may apply to participate. Participants are accepted on a case by case basis. Externships are unpaid. No student can receive more than 3 credit hours per semester and no more than 9 credit hours toward their JD degree if 3 of those credits are earned during a summer placement. Otherwise, students are limited to 6 credits hours total. A placement for 3 credit hours is expected to complete 180 hours of work whereas 120 hours of work is expected for a 2 credit hour placement.,
LAW 533
PATENT LAW MOOT COURT
(3 credit hours) Students will be required to write both an appellee and an appellant brief on a topic related to patent law. Competitions are based on an advanced problem-orientated study in patent law. Selected students must register for the course. Instructor's permission required.
LAW 543
TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW AND POLICY
(3 hrs) Focuses on the regulation of radio and television broadcasting laws as well as the regulation of cable and new satellite technology. A segment on telephone regulation is included. Also contains an entertainment law component focusing on the relationship between movie companies and other program providers and major distributors such as cable and broadcast stations. Some attention to copyright law for movies and other programs by cable systems and satellite distributors.