Law 827: Intellectual Property Workshop
Rebecca Eisenberg & Jessica Litman
Fall 2012
Wednesdays, 4:30 pm — 6:30 p.m.
Course Description
This Workshop will feature presentations from scholars conducting research on intellectual property law and related topics. Students will prepare for these sessions by reading the papers and writing and submitting short critiques. The Workshop will also be open to the public. Faculty, students and staff from the law school and other University departments, and faculty from other universities in the area may attend particular sessions.
In addition to the nine papers, we have adopted a textbook for background reading. That textbook is Lydia Loren & Joseph Miller, Intellectual Property Law: Cases and Materials (Version 3.0, 2012), available for paid download at http://semaphorepress.com/. Please download the Casebook and read the initial assignment before the first class session on September 5th.
Schedule
September 5: First class
- Reading Assignment: Loren & Miller, pages 1-26
September 12: Introduction to Patent Law
- Assignment: Read Loren & Miller, pages 119-122; 177-186; 232-249; and listen to Planet Money Episode 399: Can You Patent A Steak?
- Essay due September 10: Comment for the Planet Money Blog
September 19: Introduction to Copyright and Trademark Law
- Reading Assignment: Loren & Miller, Pages 341-64, 421-27, 435-48, 543-45, 554-57, 606-17
- Essay due Sept. 17: Memo to the Romney-Ryan Campaign
September 26: No class (Yom Kippur)
September 27 (Makeup Class): Mike Grynberg, DePaul University
- Paper: Trademark’s Place Among Consumer Information Laws
- Comments Due Monday September 24
- Optional background reading: Loren & Miller, pages 644-75
October 3: Amy Kapczynski, Yale University
- Paper: Nonexcludability and the Limits of Patents
- Comments Due Monday October 1
October 10: Jessica Silbey, Suffolk University
- Paper: Making Do with Leaky IP
- Comments Due Monday, October 8
Friday October 19 (: Colleen Chien, Santa Clara
- Paper: Startups and Patent Trolls
- Comments Due Wednesday, October 17
October 24: Laura Heymann, William & Mary Law School
- Paper: Dialogues of Authenticity
- Comments Due Monday October 22
- Optional background reading: Loren & Miller, pages 379-95, 617-18, & 740-64
October 31: Paul Courant, University of Michigan
- Reading Assignment: Intellectual Property, Google, and Libraries
- Comments Due Monday October 29
- Optional background reading: Finish the Steve Shavell paper (available at the end of the material distributed on cTools)
November 7: Rob Merges, U.C. Berkeley
- Paper:
- Comments Due Monday November 5
- Optional background reading:
November 14: Greg Lastowka, Rutgers University-Camden
- Paper:
- Comments Due Monday November 12
- Optional background reading:
November 21: No Class
November 28: Talha Syed, U.C. Berkeley
- Paper:
- Comments Due Monday November 26
- Optional background reading:
December 5: Joe Miller, University of Georgia
- Paper:
- Comments Due Monday December 3
- Optional background reading:
Past Intellectual Property Workshops
A list of past speakers is here.