Thursday, October 15

Patent assertion and licensing activity between productive companies can have more impact on a business than "the troll problem".  At this conference we will analyze the "why" and "how" of patent cross-licensing. Experienced licensing experts will discuss the key issues that arise in drafting a cross-license and various ways to resolve them.

Click here for more information. This event was free for BCLT Sponsors!
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BCLT and The George Washington University Law School will be holding the second annual Privacy Law Scholars Conference (PLSC) on June 4-5, 2009. The PLSC aims to assemble a wide array of privacy law scholars and practitioners from around the world to discuss current issues and foster greater connections between academia and practice. It will bring together privacy law scholars, privacy scholars from other disciplines (economics, philosophy, political science, computer science), and practitioners (industry, legal, advocacy, and government). Our goal is to enhance ties within the privacy law community and to facilitate dialogue between the different parts of that community (academy, government, industry, and public interest).

More information is available at the conference website.
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The Federal Trade Commission held its final two days of hearings in a series exploring the evolving market for intellectual property on May 4-5, 2009, in cooperation with BCLT. The hearings explored how markets for patents and technology operate in different industries, whether those markets operate efficiently, and how patent policy might be adjusted to better promote innovation and competition. The hearings were part of an ongoing series examining changes in patent law, patent-related business models, and new learning about the patent system since the October 2003 FTC report on promoting innovation.

An audio recording of the entire two days is archived here.
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BCLT's 2009 Privacy Lecture features an address by Richard A. Epstein, the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago. Responses to Professor Epstein’s 2008 BCLT Privacy Lecture will be made by Professor Orin Kerr and Assistant Professor Erin Murphy.6 units of MCLE credit will be available for attendees of the symposium.

Professor Epstein's Abstract for the 2009 BCLT Privacy lecture

It is easy to fall into the trap of assuming that legal systems typically resolve dyadic relationships in which a plaintiff seeks to gain something from a defendant. But in the many social settings the operative arrangements involve three or more parties, and the question is how to sort out the arrangements among them. These questions can arise in private law, for example, when one person lends property to a third person for safekeeping. These three cornered problems have generated interesting legal solutions under the law of bailments when property has been destroyed by a third person. More close to home, there is a long line of cases that addresses the question of whether the bailee of tangible property is in a position to claim any privilege of his bailor when that property is sought by government investigators. The mode of search and request may change as we move from tangible documents to cyberspace, but the principle of analysis says the same. Professor Epstein shall argue that privileges against government intrusion into information are these same in all settings and that the owner of property should not be required to forfeit protection when that information is transferred to third parties.

Audio and photographs from the conference are now available.
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March 6, 2009 ~ UC Berkeley School of Law

Co-sponsored by:
    Berkeley Center for Law & Technology
    Berkeley Technology Law Journal
    Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic
    Shidler Center for Law, Commerce & Technology

In 2003, California led the way in enacting Security Breach Notification (SBN) laws, which require data holders, including many businesses and government agencies, to tell consumers when personal information has been lost or accessed by others without authorization.  In the past six years, many breaches have been disclosed, implicating hundreds of millions of records about individuals.  Many questions remain concerning the scope of SBN laws, their effectiveness and cost, the incentives and disincentives created by SBN laws, and the nature of the duty of care emerging from expanding SBN and information security laws.  The BCLT/BTLJ 2009 Symposium will organize leading thinkers and key decision makers from law, computer science, and economics to present original scholarship on these issues and make recommendations for federal data security approaches.

Audio and PPT from the conference are now available.
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Valuation of patents is an important part of corporate patent strategy and effective portfolio management.

At this conference, we will present  the perspectives of market participants (operating companies, brokers, aggregators, etc.), law professors, economists, and valuation specialists on how to put a value on patents, patent families and patent portfolios in various contexts, such as buying/selling, corporate accounting, and mergers and acquisitions. We will also discuss patent quality metrics and their application to valuation.

6 units of MCLE credit will be available for attendees of the conference.

Registration is free to BCLT Sponsors!

Audio and PPT from the conference is available.
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Co-sponsored by the BCLT, with the Center for the Study of Law & Society, the Institute for Global Challenges and Law, and the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice.

BCLT presented its 2008 Privacy Lecture -- featuring an address by David Cole, Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center -- on the intersection between privacy and national security law.

Responses to Professor Cole’s 2008 BCLT Privacy Lecture were be made by David S. Kris, Esq. and Professor John Yoo. The moderator of the 2008 BCLT Privacy Lecture will be Paul M. Schwartz, Professor of Law, U.C. Berkeley School of Law.

Audio from the event is now available!
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Co-sponsored by the BCLT and the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University Law School.

With the explosive growth of online advertising, businesses and their counsel must be aware of new technologies, their legal implications, and evolving legal risks in the field. The Law and Business of Online Advertising brought together academics, practitioners, business leaders, and technology experts to discuss legal, policy, and technical developments in online marketing.  This intensive event began with two tutorials led by Professor Hal Varian (Chief Economist, Google) and Microsoft's Kim Howell on the economics and technology of online advertising, followed by panels which explored online advertising issues faced by consumers, publishers, and advertisers.

Audio from the event is now online!
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Co-sponsored by the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology (BCLT) and the Berkeley Technology Law Journal (BTLJ).

BCLT's Twelfth Annual Symposium will explore the role of intellectual property, and in particular patent law, on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. 

We have invited speakers from a broad range of disciplines, including economics, law, business and other fields.  We have also invited attorneys, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who have been actively involved in the information technology, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and green technology sectors. 

At the Symposium we will also introduce BCLT's project on IP & entrepreneurship, launched this year with the generous support of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.  We will discuss the current state of knowledge about the field of IP & entrepreneurship and our plans for empirical and theoretical research.

10.5 units of MCLE credit will be availble for attendees of the symposium.

Conference website including PPT is now available.

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5th Annual Hawaii Conference with Seoul National University
February 15 & 16, 2008
Maui, Hawaii

The Fifth Annual Telecommunications and IP Conference will be co-sponsored with Seoul National University and held in Maui, Hawaii on February 15 - 16, 2008.

Please contact Louise Lee for more information or to attend this event.
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co-hosted by:
Berkeley Center for Law & Technology
Berkeley Technology Law Journal
Institute for Information Law ~ University of Amsterdam

promoted in partnership with:
CAL LAW and THE RECORDER

BCLT's 11th Annual Symposium will draw attention to a range of issues from technological, business, academic, artistic, and public interest sectors in the United States and abroad. We expect a diverse audience of high tech lawyers, information technology and content industry representatives, technologists, and policymakers.

Audio, PowerPoint slides, and photos from the conference are now available!
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Intellectual Property Scholarship Conference
August 10 & 11, 2006 (Thurs. & Fri.) ~ Boalt Hall

BCLT and the Stanford Program in LST co-hosted the 6th Annual Intellectual Property Scholars Conference. The IP Scholars Conference brought together over 120 intellectual property scholars to discuss their works-in-progress.

The conference web site includes all the conference papers and audio from every lecture can be found here.
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2006 Annual Symposium
Boalt Hall School of Law

Most scientists concur that human embryonic stem cell research holds considerable promise for advancing human health. In 2004, California voters endorsed a bold initiative (Proposition 71) to fund stem cell research by the issuance of $3 billion in bonds, which will be allocated over a 10 year period to researchers.

However, foundational legal and policy issues remain to be resolved – from intellectual property rights to other ownership issues (e.g., the form of donor consent), to how (and whether) the state of California should expect to recoup its investment in the research, to name just a few. This conference seeks to provide insights and recommendations from leading thinkers that will enable California’s bold initiative to be successful.

These are among the issues that will be addressed at this tenth annual symposium.

The conference web site, which includes audio recordings of every session and a tutorial video, can be found here.
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International Telecommunication Law
January 12 & 13 , 2006 (Thurs. & Fri.) ~ Paris, France

BCLT, at the Boalt Hall School of Law, and the Ecole des mines de Paris co-sponsored the third Paris conference on telecommunication Law. This year's focus was Balancing Antitrust and Regulation in  Network Industries: Evolving Approaches in Europe and United States.

William Kovacic (Commissioner-nominee, FTC) and Philip Lowe (Director  General, DG Comp) delivered the keynote speeches. Hon. Douglas H.  Ginsburg (Chief Judge, US Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.) and  Hon. Guy Canivet (First President, Cour de Cassation) compared the  approaches on both sides of Atlantic. The balance between Antitrust and Regulation was addressed in Telecommunications and Energy sectors by distinguished legal and  economic scholars. A round-table "Should Network Industries Have Sector-Specific Merger  Policy" closed the Conference.

The 2006 program can be viewed here.  (The 2004 web site is here. The 2002 web site is here.)
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2005 Annual Symposium
April 1, 2005 (Fri.) ~ UC Berkeley

Is spyware the latest form of malware, along with viruses, worms, spam, and file-sharing of illicit content? Or are technologies embedded in users' computer systems that monitor certain functions and offer updates, services, or ads for products users might want an engine of e-commerce that should remain unregulated and indeed encouraged? How does and how should the law define "spyware"? What kind of notice and consent should be required before installation of such software is permitted? What obligations (if any) do makers of spyware or users of spyware have as to collection and transmission of personally identifiable information? Are some forms of spyware surveillance unlawful, even criminal? Does spyware make user computers more insecure? What intellectual property rights (if any) are implicated by spyware that serves ads to users of websites that have their own ads to offer? Should states or the federal government regulate spyware, or is effective regulation impossible given the global nature of the Internet and the ease with which off-shore servers can provide havens?

These are among the questions that were addressed at the ninth annual conference, co-sponsored by BCLT and the Berkeley Technology Law Journal.

The conference web site, which includes conference pdf's and a tutorial video, can be viewed here.
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2004 Annual Symposium
April 15 & 16, 2004 (Fri. & Sat.) ~ UC Berkeley

On April 15 and 16, 2004 the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology held a major policy event. Along with the Federal Trade Commission and the National Academy of Sciences, BCLT brought together scholars, lawyers, and policy-makers to discuss both the substance of patent reform and how it might be implemented. Government officials, judges, academics, lawyers, and industry representatives convened to discuss the most significant recommendations made in the FTC and NAS reports and decided where to go from there. The conference featured presentations of the FTC and NAS reports, keynote speeches, and a roundtable of industry leaders. The conference also included substantive debates on several key reform proposals: changes to the obviousness standard, proposals for opposition and post-grant review, and changes to litigation rules.

The conference web site, which includes conference pdf's and a transcript of the entire symposium, can be viewed here.
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2003 Annual Symposium
February 27 - March 1, 2003 ~ UC Berkeley

What will Digital Rights Management technologies mean for the future of information? This pivotal conference assembled the leading thinkers from industry, academia, government, and the nonprofit sector to confronting the many controversies surrounding digital rights management. The conference was brought to you by The Berkeley Center for Law and Technology (BCLT), Berkeley Technology Law Journal (BTLJ), the Samuelson Law, Technology & Pubic Policy and the School of Information Management & Systems (SIMS) at the University of California, Berkeley.

The conference web site -- which includes conference papers, audio, and video -- can be viewed here.