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Intellectual Property and Technology Law Certificate Program
The Intellectual Property and Technology Law Certificate Program is offered under the auspices of the J. Thomas McCarthy Institute for Intellectual Property and Technology Law. The institute is named in honor of Professor J. Thomas McCarthy, a long-time faculty member and intellectual property law pioneer recognized as a pre-eminent expert in the field.
To receive the Intellectual Property and Technology Certificate (IP Certificate), students must complete all of the certificate requirements and all of the requirements for the JD degree. Students intending to complete the requirements for the Intellectual Property and Technology Certificate are subject to all of the law school's academic policies, including rules governing enrollment priorities.
Course Requirements
To earn an Intellectual Property and Technology Certificate, a student must complete at least 15 units of approved course work in the subject area, including at least two of the following core courses: Copyright Law, Cyberspace Law, Intellectual Property Survey, Patent Law, or Trademark Law. Any remaining units (to reach a total of 15) must be completed by taking additional core courses and/or courses selected from the list of approved Intellectual Property and Technology Certificate elective courses. Note: the curriculum below is subject to change and not all courses are offered every year.
| Core Courses | Units |
|---|---|
| Copyright Law | 3 |
| A survey of the exclusive property rights given to authors, artists, designers, computer program writers, composers and performers under federal and state law. Emphasis is placed on the ability to advise both creators and users of data, information and creative works. Coverage is also given to related rights such a moral rights, and the right of publicity. | |
| Cyberspace Law | 3 |
| This course studies the emerging body of law relating to cyberspace, focusing on the Internet and online services. The course considers how to adapt law to cyberspace, looking at case law, statutes, and other methods of regulation. Topics include jurisdiction, computer crime, electronic privacy and encryption, free speech in cyberspace (including online indecency), online torts (including spam and defamation) and intellectual property in cyberspace. While prior exposure to cyberspace is helpful, no special expertise is required. | |
| Intellectual Property Survey | 3 |
| A survey of rights under U.S. state and federal law for the protection of new technology and inventions (trade secrets and patents), business symbols and literary titles (trademarks), and industrial design (design patents), and rights in works of authorship (copyrights) While the course focuses on American law, it will also introduce students to various aspects of international intellectual property law. It is highly recommended that this course be taken as a foundation to for the advanced study of intellectual property. | |
| Patent Law | 3 |
| An introductory patent law course which focuses on the fundamentals of patent law; patent infringement and patent damages; patent validity issues such as anticipation, obviousness, enablement, and best mode; and equitable aspects of patent enforcement, including the defense of inequitable conduct. Technical training is not required. | |
| Trademark Law | 3 |
| This course will examine, in detail, the major areas of trademark law, including, the trademark registration process at the United States Patent and Trademark Office; the basic rules regarding eligibility for trademark protection under traditional trademark infringement doctrines and under dilution law. The course will also examine a number of defenses to trademark rights, including fair use, generic use, non- commercial use, and First Amendment Protections in this context. The course will also cover various aspects of domain name law, including the Anti-Cyber Squatting Protection Act and the dispute resolution processes promulgated by the ICANN. Finally, the course will examine selected areas of international trademark law, including the specific rules which govern geographical indicators which exist in many foreign countries. | |
| Elective Courses | |
| Antitrust Law | 3 |
| A study of federal and state laws promoting a free market economy. The course also considers some aspects of the competition laws in their international application including the laws of jurisdictions outside the U.S. The focus is on legal prohibitions against price fixing combinations, restraints of trade, monopolization of markets, and anti-competitive mergers. The main laws studied are the federal Sherman Act, Clayton Act, and Federal Trade Commission Act. Emphasis is placed on the ability to evaluate the antitrust risks present in proposed business and marketing plans. | |
| Antitrust and IP Law | 2 |
| The course will address the relationship between antitrust and intellectual property law, including a summary of those related laws. | |
| Art Law | 2 |
| This course covers contemporary legal, ethical, and public policy issues that involve visual artists (primarily painters and sculptors) and art collectors, dealers, auction houses, and museums. It explores diverse issues comprising a broad area of legal practice including, where appropriate, comparisons with laws of other countries. The focus is on artists' continuing rights in works; the application of intellectual property laws to visual art; how theft, forgery, and contracts affect the art market; regulation of the art market; and government subsidy and control of art. When time allows, the course also looks at museum administration; protection of national art treasures; and international cultural property issues. | |
| Biotechnology Law | 2 |
| An overview of intellectual property and regulatory issues impacting the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Basic principles of licensing, litigation, and international law will also be discussed. The course focuses on the impact of the legal system on research, products, and intellectual property for companies and institutions. Consideration is given to: (1) How do legal issues promote or hinder the development of technology, (2) What role should ethics and public health concerns play in the law, and (3) Does a "one size fits all" patent law make sense for biotechnology. A prior course in intellectual property law or some life science background is helpful but not required. | |
| Entertainment Law | 2 |
| A study of legal and business issues which arise in the creation, distribution and sale of products and services in the music, radio, television, news media, publishing, theater, and movie industries. Coverage includes components on sex and violence in entertainment and the law; privacy rights and defamation issues; celebrity rights; fair use; the implications of technological innovations on intellectual property in entertainment; artistic credit and control; and emerging issues in the creation and digital distribution of content. Prerequisite: Copyright Law, or Intellectual Property Survey. | |
| European IP Law | |
| Expert Evidence in IP Litigation | 3 |
| This course examines evidentiary issues of importance to intellectual property litigators. Emphasis is on considerations of what evidence to present and how best to present it to judges and jurors. Prerequisite: Evidence. | |
| Intellectual Property Litigation | 2 |
| Intellectual Property Seminar | 3 |
| This seminar permits students to specialize in Intellectual Property by preparation of a paper and seminar discussion. Topic papers include advanced issues in all aspects of Intellectual Property law, from technical subjects such as patent and trade secret issues in computer programs and biotechnology to trademark and unfair competition issues in marketing to entertainment law issues in the rights of publicity and privacy. Prerequisites: either Copyright Law, Cyberspace Law, Intellectual Property Survey, Patent Law, or Trademark Law | |
| Intellectual Property Survey | 3 |
| A survey of rights under U.S. state and federal law for the protection of new technology and inventions (trade secrets and patents), business symbols and literary titles (trademarks), and industrial design (design patents), and rights in works of authorship (copyrights) While the course focuses on American law, it will also introduce students to various aspects of international intellectual property law. It is highly recommended that this course be taken as a foundation to for the advanced study of intellectual property. | |
| International Intellectual Property | 2 |
| A survey of rights under U.S. state and federal law for the protection of new technology and inventions (trade secrets and patents), business symbols and literary titles (trademarks), and industrial design (design patents), and rights in works of authorship (copyrights) While the course focuses on American law, it will also introduce students to various aspects of international intellectual property law. It is highly recommended that this course be taken as a foundation to for the advanced study of intellectual property. | |
| Internet and IP Justice Project/Clinic | |
| The Internet and Intellectual Property Justice Clinic, in partnership with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, provides a variety of intellectual property legal services, such as domain name disputes in ICANN proceedings, copyright infringement notifications and counter notifications under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, as well as other trademark and copyright matters. The clinic is also a partner in "Chilling Effects," a joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and law school clinics at Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, and Maine. Chilling Effects helps the public understand the protections that the First Amendment and intellectual property laws provide for online activities. | |
| Patent Licensing | 2 |
| This seminar examines the basic elements of patent licensing transactions and is designed to provide the background needed to structure, draft, and negotiate patent licenses as well as limited purpose agreements including employment, consulting, confidentiality, and material transfer agreements. Students complete a series of assignments that will involve drafting several agreements. Prerequisite: Patent Law. | |
| Sports Law | 3 |
| This class will be a general survey of legal issues that arise in the sports context with an emphasis on issues relating to professional sports and the professional athlete. | |
| Street Law | 3 |
| The Street Law Project operates in conjunction with approximately 25 Bay Area high schools and several middle schools and their respective school districts. Law students, working under faculty supervision, serve as student instructors and teach a course entitled "Street Law" which annually reaches 2,000 predominately inner-city school students. The program seeks to promote legal literacy among young people to ensure that they possess that minimum amount of practical, legal knowledge needed to understand the system as a whole and how it can work in their behalf. Law student instructors deliver units in Housing, Consumer, Family, Criminal, and Constitutional Law at their assigned school sites. They also participate in weekly seminars and research and develop additional material on California law to be used in their classes. | |
| Technology Contracting | 2 |
| An examination of the practical aspects of negotiating and drafting contracts related to the technology industry. Each class will focus on specific technology contract provisions, with an emphasis on learning drafting, redlining and negotiation skills. | |
| Telecommunications and Electronic Media Law | 3 |
| This course examines Federal regulation of 1) electronic media including cable television, broadcast television, Direct Broadcast Satellite service, and radio, and 2) telecommunications including wireline, wireless, broadband, and Internet services. Electronic media topics address radio spectrum issues, license assignment, indecency, violence on TV, public trustee obligations, Digital TV, and various "must carry" rules. Telecommunications topics will cover the 1996 Telecommunications Act, "Universal Service", information services (i.e., broadband DSL and cable modem services), VoIP, and cellular issues. Some state regulation will also be considered. | |
| Transactional Trademark Practice | 2 |
| In depth focus on trademark selection and clearance, registration, and counseling. Issues to be discussed and studied include trademark licensing, counterfeit and parallel goods issues, and administrative litigation with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Students will work in teams, analyze and provide oral presentations and written reports on corporate trademark issues throughout the semester. Emphasis will be on developing creative and strategic solutions to trademark matters. A final paper is due at end of semester. Pre-requisite: Intellectual Property Survey (recommended). | |
Scholastic Requirements
Intellectual Property and Technology Certificate recipients must achieve a grade of C+ or higher in each course applied to meet the certificate requirements and achieve a cumulative grade point average of 2.700 or higher for all courses applied to the certificate.
A student achieving a cumulative grade point average of 3.500 or higher for all courses applied to meet the requirements of the certificate is awarded the certificate with honors.
All course work for the certificate must be taken for a letter grade except for any approved elective course in which credit/no credit or pass/fail grading is mandatory. For any course in which a letter grade is not provided, a "credit" or "pass" must be achieved in order for the course to be applied to certificate requirements.
Writing Requirement
To earn the certificate, a student who begins his or her second year in fall 2007 or thereafter must complete a substantial research paper analyzing an issue relevant to intellectual property, cyberspace, or technology law. The paper must demonstrate the ability to identify, describe, and analyze the subject matter, and, should, where possible, propose a resolution. The paper must meet the standards for an Upper Level Research and Writing Requirement project and may be used to satisfy that requirement and/or the requirements of a course taken for credit.
Transfer Units
All course work must be taken at USF with the exception of one elective course (for a maximum of three units of credit). If a student wishes to apply a course taken at another law school to meet the requirements of the Intellectual Property and Technology Certificate, prior approval must be obtained by the assistant dean for academic services. The student must take the course for a letter grade and earn a grade of C+ or higher for credit to be applied to the certificate.
A course taken at another law school will be transferred only as "credit" only for purposes of determining the Intellectual Property and Technology Certificate grade point average as well as for calculating the USF semester and cumulative grade point averages.
Applying for the Certificate
To be eligible to receive an Intellectual Property and Technology Certificate, a student must submit an application to the Office of the Registrar. Applications will not be accepted until the student's last semester. Applications must be submitted on or before the last day to drop classes in that semester.
Students may obtain only one certificate. No student will be awarded more than one certificate upon completion of the JD degree, even if such student completed the requirements to more than one certificate program.
It is each student's responsibility to ensure that all requirements for the Intellectual Property and Technology Certificate are satisfied in a timely manner.