Intro to IP

Intro to IP

This topic is intended both for students and readers of this Legal Encyclopedia who are interested in a general overview of intellectual property and as a gateway to Boalt's Law and Technology program. The topic begins with an analysis of the competing policies underlying the intellectual property laws. It covers the basics of patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secrets (and other state IP-related areas of) law, as well as some of the salient controversies in intellectual property law, including patent protection for software and business methods, the challenges to copyright law posed by filesharing technology, the role and difficulties of protecting trademarks on the Internet, and the application of common law doctrines to the Internet.