Message from the Executive Director


Professor David Franklyn

The University of San Francisco School of Law's McCarthy Institute for Intellectual Property and Technology Law is named in honor of our good friend and valued colleague, J. Thomas McCarthy, an internationally recognized leader in the intellectual property field, a preeminent scholar, and an outstanding teacher.

It is widely recognized that technology has transformed the legal landscape. New computer and communication technologies have challenged our intellectual property laws and in some cases required their reformulation. In addition, new areas of concern have arisen as technology changes the way we do business and the way we interact with each other and the state. In the process, the moral underpinnings of society need to be reexamined to ensure that emerging technologies ¬ and the law's reaction to them - are consistent with our justice ideals.

The McCarthy Institute is dedicated to advancing the body of knowledge related to intellectual property law, with a particular emphasis on the relationships among IP law, cyberlaw, emerging technologies and the phenomenon commonly referred to as globalization. Because law is both a culture to be studied and a practice to be pursued, the Institute will focus on the intersection between theory and practice. It will examine and facilitate public dialogue regarding a variety of practical problems that have arisen - and will continue to arise - in the IP and cyberlaw arenas.

The Institute hosts periodic scholarly conferences, an annual scholar in residence program, student externships and a number of other events - all dedicated to bringing together IP practitioners, scholars and other interested members of the legal and scholarly communities in San Francisco, nationally and around the world.

I am honored to serve as the McCarthy Institute's Executive Director and excited about the possibilities that lie ahead.