The Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic is the leading clinical program in technology law and the public interest. Through hands-on, real-world work, the Clinic trains law and graduate students in public interest work on emerging technologies, privacy, intellectual property, free speech, consumer and citizen interests in technology deployment and design, creativity, innovation, and other information policy issues.
In this work, the Clinic pursues a dual mission: to support the public’s interest in technology law and policy, and to teach law students through real-world work, with live clients, on cutting-edge policy issues.
The Clinic’s affiliated faculty and staff support Clinic students and clients with world-class expertise ranging from patent and copyright law to electronic privacy and online speech.
Read about the Samuelson Clinic’s recent projects, events, and faculty news in our annual newsletter.
Interested students should review our information page and apply here.
Clinical Teaching Fellow
The Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley School of Law seeks applications for two Clinical Teaching Fellows, for an approximate one-year term with the possibility of renewal. This position is open until filled. For more information about the position, including required qualifications and application materials, please visit: https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/apply/JPF02007.
If you have questions about the position, please contact academicpositions@law.berkeley.edu.
UC Berkeley is an AA/EEO employer.
Recent Clinic Projects
Software Copyright
Samuelson Clinic students and Professor Pamela Samuelson filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court on behalf of 65 intellectual property scholars. The brief, submitted in support of Google’s cert petition, argues that the Supreme Court should hear the case to resolve splits in circuit court interpretations of several major copyright doctrines as applied to computer programs. The brief argued that the Federal Circuit’s decision below disrupted the relative equilibrium of more than two decades of software copyright precedents and upset settled expectations within the software industry.
Design Patents and Open Source Hardware
Samuelson Clinic students and faculty, working on behalf of the Open Source Hardware Association, drafted and filed an amicus brief in Curver Luxembourg, SARL v. Home Expressions, Inc., before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The brief argues that it is crucial to maintain the connection between the “article of manufacture” specified in the patent and the scope of design patent protection. This promotes innovation in industrial design and avoids unnecessary risks for the creation and sharing of open source hardware design files. You can read the brief here.
Preservation of Online Video Games
Samuelson Clinic students and faculty, working on behalf of the Museum of Art & Digital Entertainment, petitioned the U.S. Copyright Office for an exemption to the anti-circumvention rules of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to aid the preservation of online video games that are no longer supported by their copyright owners. If granted, this exemption will allow libraries, museums, and archives to preserve historically and culturally important video games for future research and study. You can read the petition here.