Tag: United States

  • Copyright Reform

    This topic will consider various proposals to reform U.S. copyright law. This law is long, complex, incomprehensible in many respects, and lacking in normative heft. It is also the work product of 1950's era thinking and has proven to be brittle at times when one tries to apply it to situations that…

  • IP in Entertainment Industries

    This topic will examine copyright and other legal issues relating to film, television, music, and multimedia in industrial context. Each industry will be examined from a variety of perspectives, detailing the business, legal, social, and ethical issues encountered by practitioners as well as the pol…

  • Trade Secrets

    This topic will explore the theory and practice of trade secret law. Unlike most of intellectual property law, which is a creature of federal legislation, trade secret law is rooted in state common law and evolved under the influence of the Restatement and uniform law movement. We will discuss how t…

  • Cyberlaw

    The emergence of global digital networks, such as the Internet, and digital technologies that enhance human abilities to access, store, manipulate, and transmit vast amounts of information has brought with it a host of new legal issues that lawyers preparing to practice in the 21st century will need…

  • IP Strategy

    This topic focuses on intellectual property strategy for high technology companies and investors in technology-focused businesses. The topic is designed to provide students and readers of this Legal Encyclopedia with a solid understanding of key strategy issues in the field of intellectual property …

  • Trademark Law

    This is a survey topic in international trademark law and practice. The topic will cover various theories of trademark/trade name infringement and dilution, including defenses such as parody and fair use, and explore mechanisms of trademark protection globally, such as international treaties and int…

  • Digital Antitrust

    The topic will prepare students and readers of this Legal Encyclopedia for for an antitrust practice in the digital economy, especially as it relates to intellectual property. Topics will include the IP/antitrust interface, net neutrality, search advertising, pricing strategies, platform competition…

  • IP Transactions

    This topic covers the myriad transactions involving intellectual property rights in the modern economy with an emphasis on the high technology industry. Increasingly, conventional transactional lawyering involves an intellectual property component; this topic is designed to help those students and r…

  • Digital Markets

    The objective is to help prepare yourself for an IP or transactions practice in the digital world. The topics include (1) collective rights organizations, (2) technical protections of content, (3) two-sided markets, (4) the optimal design of online auctions for search engines, (5) the economics of c…

  • Law and Tech Writing topic

    This writing topic enables students and readers of this Legal Encyclopedia to prepare comments on important developments for inclusion in the Annual Review of Law & Technology. Admission is based on an application process. Applications must be submitted to the box outside Boalt 355 no later than May…

  • Energy

    Energy and Cleantech ResearchGrowing concern for the effects of global climate change have focused public policy on promoting the development and diffusion of renewable and alternative energy technologies. This two-topic topic will explore the broad contours of this new era of environmental…

  • Mergers and Acquisitions in High Tech

    The topic focuses on mergers and acquisitions, and other acquisitive or dispositive transactions, especially in the technology and emerging growth sectors. Since 1997, mergers have become the preferred exit strategy for owners to liquidity, taking precedence over initial public offerings. We will fo…

  • Energy Regulation

    Energy Regulation and the EnvironmentEnergy production and use drive the world's economies and offer hope for growth and prosperity. Yet, the extraction and use of fuels and the development of energy facilities are among the greatest threats to the global environment. This topic introduces …

  • Online Privacy

    The FTC and Online PrivacyThe US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has emerged as the primary regulator of online privacy. In a recent case, the FTC marked the end of contract law approaches to online privacy in favor of a more interventionalist approach. Years of protecting consumers against …

  • Environment

    Development of the EnvironmentThe intersection of environmental, land use and natural resource law, on one hand, and the world of real estate development, on the other, is filled with complexities and trade-offs. Large-scale development projects almost always have measurable negative impact…