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ADMISSIONS > Courses >
The following courses are available for those interested in law and technology issues, including intellectual property, technology and biomedical law:
Antitrust and Intellectual Property
This advanced course focuses on the special, and often complex, legal issues that are present at the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property. The course considers the important role that innovation and intellectual property play in a competitive economy; market definition and innovation markets; intellectual property licensing and antitrust; and mergers and consent decree remedies that involve intellectual property.
Biomedical Legal and Ethical Issues
Biotechnology and Chemical Patent Law
This class examines legal issues in the biotech field, with a special emphasis on chemical patent law.
Computer Law
This course focuses on the law relating to computer software. The primary focus will be on three areas of law: intellectual property, contracts and licensing, and antitrust law. Internet intellectual property issues will also be discussed. The course will have a final exam.
Copyright
This is an in-depth course in copyright, covering legal protection of works of literature, art, architecture, computer software, industrial design and other forms of authorship, mainly under the federal Copyright Act of 1976. Attention is also given to challenges to copyright posed by digital technologies and to international treaties affecting U.S. law and industries.
Cyberlaw
The emergence of global digital networks and digital technologies has brought a host of new legal issues that lawyers preparing to practice in the 21st century need to understand and address. The course explores specific problems in applying law to cyberspace in such areas as intellectual property, privacy, content control and bounds of jurisdiction.
Entertainment Law
The worlds of film, television and music form the core of this course. Each industry is discussed from the clients' perspectives, detailing the business, legal, social and ethical issues encountered in the development of a project from raw idea to final distributed product. Topics also include agents, managers, the studio system, new media, sexually oriented entertainment and careers in entertainment law.
Intellectual Property Strategies for E-Commerce
Intellectual property (IP) is at the core of the integration of market and non-market strategies of e-business enterprises. IP rights and the legal system in general influence many of the market strategies of e-commerce companies. This course provides an introduction to the economics and law of intellectual property and applies these concepts directly to established and emerging e-business strategies. This course prepares entrepreneurs and future e-business managers to manage the legal and nonmarket environment of e-commerce in a way that allows them to protect and strategically expand the operations of their enterprises.
Intellectual Property Transactions
This course covers the myriad transactions involving intellectual property rights in the modern economy. Topics include the law of ownership of rights; assignment of rights, especially in the employment context; licensing transactions; security interests in intellectual property and other finance-related issues; and bankruptcy considerations.
International Aspects of Intellectual Property Law
In the highly integrated global economy, goods and services move with limited regard for national borders, and the innovative component of goods and services increasingly defines their value. The protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) on an international basis assumes great importance for investors, authors and artists, and business enterprises. This course examines the international system for the protection of IPRs.
Internet and Software Issues in Patent Law
This course provides a practical understanding of the patent issues associated with the Internet and software. Practical materials (such as pleading from actual lawsuits, patent license agreements and patent file histories) will be used to provide students an opportunity to engage in exercises that simulate real-world situations.
Introduction to Intellectual Property
This course is intended for students interested in a general overview of intellectual property and as a gateway to Boalt Hall's Law and Technology Program. The course begins with an analysis of the competing policies underlying intellectual property laws. Topics include the basics of trade secrets; patent, copyright and trademark law; and licensing, ownership and antitrust issues; in addition to the infringement of rights and requirements for legal protection. Two areas of particular contemporary interest-the protection of computer programs and biotechnology-are considered in depth.
Law and Technology Writing Seminar
This seminar provides a structured environment for second-year law students to prepare a case comment or comparable contribution for the "Annual Review of Law and Technology" published in the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. The range of topics includes intellectual property, life sciences (e.g., biomedical ethics, healthcare law), telecommunications regulation, commercial law, corporate law, venture capital, antitrust law, international law, cyberbanking and cyberlaw.
Mergers and Acquisitions in the High-Technology World
This class focuses on mergers and acquisitions through the special lens of the high-technology merger. The high-technology world produces mergers that differ from standard merger transactions because, in general, the product is intellectual property, an intangible asset. This class introduces students to the special type of practice found in Silicon Valley-type deals and highlights ways to add value to those deals.
Mergers in High-Technology and Network Industries
This course examines the complex issues that arise in the analysis of mergers and combined economic activities among firms in technologically dynamic industries. It focuses in part on the relationship between competition and innovation, and examines the challenges for antitrust policy in simultaneously achieving those two objectives. Topics include joint ventures and other alliances, the recent joint venture guidelines of the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice, current debates over antitrust enforcement in high-tech markets, and evaluation of the different sides of those debates and applicability to recent and pending cases.
Patent Law
This course covers the major aspects of patent law, primarily as applied in the United States. Topics include patentability, especially current issues in biotechnology and software; infringement; ownership and licensing; and remedies. The course emphasizes essential legal principles that are useful as solid background for nonpatent specialists or as a foundation for a career as a patent lawyer representing inventors before the patent office or litigating patent cases.
Patent Licensing
Patent Litigation
This course is a hands-on introduction to patent litigation. The class is taught around a hypothetical case, in which doctrinal elements of patent law-such as infringement, validity and damages-are explored, not only through discussions of relevant Federal Circuit and Supreme Court decisions, but also through student argument on behalf of the hypothetical plaintiff and defendant.
Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic
Students in the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic help shape public policy by developing new legislation, influencing technical standards, engaging in litigation and educating the public. Since the clinic's founding, students have served as advocates on a variety of cutting-edge legal issues, including freedom of speech on the Internet, privacy standards for online and wireless communications, and the effect of intellectual property laws on the global distribution of essential medications.
Strategic Patent Licensing
This course addresses the world of patent licensing, providing both an academic foundation and practical business guidance for understanding and participating effectively in this area. The class features guest speakers, such as high level business executives who deal with patent licensing issues.
Telecommunications
This course examines the statutory, administrative and constitutional foundations for the regulation of voice, video and data communications. Course material includes broadcast, cable, wireless and telephone systems, as well as new and emerging communications technologies. The course covers the historical development of related laws and the major issues currently being debated in several key areas of telecommunications regulation.
Trade Secrets
This course explores the theoretical and practical aspects of protecting information as a trade secret. It examines the basic legal doctrines and social issues that define this field and addresses the process of trade secret litigation.
Trademarks
This advanced course in international trademark law and practice covers various theories of trademark/trade name infringement and dilution, including defenses such as parody and fair use. Topics include mechanisms of global trademark protection (such as international treaties and protection strategies); trademark issues in cyberspace; rights of publicity; trade dress; false advertising; and trademark licensing.
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