Faculty Activities

Winter - Spring 2018

Professor Cynthia Alkon, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor Nancy Welsh, Aggie Dispute Resolution Program Director, and Professor Charlotte Ku, Associate Dean for Global Programs and Graduate Studies and Co-Convener of the Global and Comparative Law Program, visited with Israeli and Palestinian judges, lawyers, and other dispute resolution and legal professionals as part of a U.S. dispute resolution law professor delegation sponsored by Academic Partners for Peace (December 12-18, 2017).

Professor William Byrnes, Associate Dean for Special Projects:

• Presented the webinar “Forms W-8BEN and W-9 Compliance in Foreign and U.S. Business Transactions” (December 19, 2017).


• Assumed the following AALS Leadership Positions for 2018:
  • Founding Member of the 38 Fellows of the American Association of Law School
  • Chair, Section for Graduate Programs for Foreign Lawyers
  • Chair Elect, Section for Finance & Administration
  • Executive Committee, Post Graduate Legal Education
  • Executive Committee, International Legal Exchange

• Presented “3D Printing and Disruptive Technologies,” Faculty Seminar, Faculty of Law and Social Science, University Carlos III, Madrid, Spain (February 16, 2018).


• Presented “Geographical Indications at the Crossroads of Trade and Marketing,” public lecture, Centre of International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI), University of Strasbourg, France (February 13, 2018).


• Served as commentator and participated at the Workshop of the Harmonization of Intellectual Property and Technology Transactions, Faculty of Law, University of Geneva, Switzerland (February 9, 2018).


• Presented “How to Tie IP, Cultural Heritage, and Economic Development in Southeast Asia” at the Cultural Industries and Intellectual Property in Southeast Asia Conference, Faculty of Law and Wee Kim Wee Centre, Singapore Management University (February 1-2, 2018).


• Presented the keynote address, “Intellectual Property and Patents for Medicines,” at the Conference on Harmonization on Law, Economics and Health towards Social Justice, Universitas 17 Augustus 1945, Semarang, Indonesia (January 29-30, 2018).


• Presented “The ASEAN Approach to Under-Water Cultural Heritage, Admiralty and Maritime Law Panel,” co-sponsored by Art Law and International Law Sections, “Sunken Treasure: Recovery of Cultural Property from Historic Shipwrecks,” 112th AALS Annual Meeting Access to Justice, San Diego, Calif. (January 3-7, 2018).


• Presented “Is the RCEP so Different than the TTP? The Indirect Influence of the US in International IP Negotiations in Asia,” Intellectual Property Section Panel on “International IP Law in a Post-TPP/TTIP, Post-Brexit World,” at the 112th AALS Annual Meeting Access to Justice (January 3-7, 2018).


• Served as commentator at The Future of Asian Trade Deal and IP Conference, School of Law, Singapore Management University, Singapore (December 8, 2017).


• Presented “Intellectual Property and Free Movement of Goods in ASEAN” at the ASEAN Law Conference, School of Law, Singapore Management University, Singapore (December 7-8, 2017).


• Presented “3D Printing Technology and Digital Trade” at the Digital Trade in the Asia-Pacific: Identifying Challenges, Seeking Solutions Conference, School of Law, Singapore Management University (organized by Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne), Singapore (December 6, 2017).


• Visiting Professor, Faculty of Law and Social Science, University Carlos III of Madrid, Master in Intellectual Property Rights teaching classes on “Non-Traditional Trademarks” and “Geographical Indications” (February 2018).


• Visiting professor at the Centre of International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI), University of Strasbourg [France], Graduate Program in Intellectual Property. Lecturing on “The International Protection of Trademarks” and “Geographical Indications” (February 2018).


• Visiting professor, Royal University of Law and Economics, Cambodia, Master in International Business Law, teaching “Intellectual Property” and “International Trade” (December 2017).

Professor Gabriel Eckstein, Director of the Program in Natural Resources Systems:

• Served as External Examiner for Ph.D. candidate Renee Martin-Nagle on the topic of “Governance of Offshore Freshwater Resources: Toward a Global Commons”, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland (April 23, 2018).


• Presented “Sharing What You Can’t See: Policy and Governance Challenges for Managing Transboundary Groundwater Resources on the Mexico-U.S. Border” to the Dallas Bar Association Environment Law Section (December 7, 2017).

Professor Paul George:

• Met with Uniform Law Commission members in Philadelphia as Reporter on the ULC project Joint Drafting Committee on Registration of Foreign Judgments to Harmonize the Law of Canada and the United States (February 15, 2018).

• As a member of the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law, he helped the committee develop a proposal for an international model law on warehouse receipts, which are playing an increasingly important role in the economies of developing countries. He participated in a committee conference call on April 26 during which the proposal was approved.

• Received $80,000 Global Engagement Grant to study Mexican reintegration of immigrants deported from the United States (with Huyen Pham, Angela Morrison, Sonia Hernandez, and Nancy Plankey-Videla).

Professor Charlotte Ku, Associate Dean for Global Programs and Graduate Studies and Co-Convener of the Global and Comparative Law Program:

• Chaired and co-authored the organizing paper for the roundtable “Visualizing International Law: What’s Occurring: Can/Should We Adjust?” at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, San Francisco, Calif. (April 4, 2018).


• Gave the plenary address, “Teaching International Law: The State of the Art, Problems and Prospects” at the Teaching International Law International Conference, University of Innsbruck, Austria (January 24, 2018).


• Spoke on the panel, “A Global Guide to International Legal Exchange: Practical Secrets of Success (and What to Do if Things Go Horribly Wrong)” at the 112th AALS Annual Meeting Access to Justice, San Diego, Calif. (January 3, 2018).

Associate Professor Felix Mormann:

• Presented “Combating Climate Change Without the U.S. – The German Perspective” at the Paris, Policy, and the Grid: The Future of Transnational Energy Policy symposium at the University of Connecticut School of Law (April 20, 2018).

Professor Elizabeth Trujillo, Co-Convener of the Global and Comparative Law Program:

• Elected to the American Society of International Law (ASIL) Executive Council (April 2018).

Associate Professor Saurabh Vishnubhakat:

• Presented “Patent Powers in India” at the 3rd IP Scholars Asia Conference at the Singapore Management University School of Law (March 1–2, 2018).


• Served as panel chair and moderator for the "Second Parallel Session on Patents" at the 3rd Works-in-Progress IP Scholars Asia Conference at the Singapore Management University School of Law (March 1–2, 2018).

Professor Nancy A. Welsh, Director of the Aggie Dispute Resolution Program:

• Presented “Combining Mediation and Arbitration: Procedural Safeguards” at the Asian International Arbitration Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (March 2018).


• Presented on dispute resolution topics to faculty, administrators and students at the International Islamic University and the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (March 2018).


• Presented “Trustworthiness, Transparency and Procedural Safeguards” at Expanding the Scope of Dispute Resolution and Access to Justice: The Use of Mediation Within the Courts, a research forum sponsored by Singapore Management University and the Centre for Cross-Border Commercial Law in Asia, in Singapore. The forum was supported by the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy and the Singapore International Mediation Institute (March 2018).


• Visited with Israeli and Palestinian judges, lawyers, and other dispute resolution and legal professionals as part of a U.S. dispute resolution law professor delegation sponsored by Academic Partners for Peace with Cynthia Alkon and Charlotte Ku (December 12-18, 2017).

Professor Peter Yu, Director of the Center for Law and Intellectual Property (CLIP):

• Presented "Data Producer's Right" at the 7th International Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable at Duke University School of Law (April 26-27, 2018).


• Presented "Building a New International Intellectual Property Infrastructure Through China's Belt-and-Road Initiative" at the 26th Annual Intellectual Property Law and Policy‏ Conference at Fordham University School of Law (April 5-6, 2018).


• Presented "A Seamless Global Digital Marketplace of Media and Entertainment Content" at the Faculty Workshop at Florida International University College of Law (April 3, 2018).


• Presented "Building a New International Intellectual Property Infrastructure Through China's Belt-and-Road Initiative" at the 2018 University of Pennsylvania Asian Law Review Symposium titled Development of Intellectual Property Law in Asia (March 30, 2018).


• Presented "Data Producers' Rights and the Platform Economy" at the workshop "Legal Implications of the Platform Economy" at the Institute for Civil and Business Law at Vienna University of Economics and Business in Vienna, Austria (March 12-13, 2018).


• Presented "Imitative Pasts, Innovation Pathways and Intellectual Property" at the 19th Congress of the European Intellectual Property Institutes Network (EIPIN) in the Faculty of Law at Maastricht University in the Netherlands (January 25-27, 2018).


• Presented "Data Exclusivities in the Age of Big Data, Biologics and Plurilaterals" in the webinar on "TRIPS and the Life Sciences: Data Exclusivities and TRIPS Art. 39.3," organized by the Centre for Information and Innovation Law at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark (January 18, 2018).


• Delivered the 22nd ACIP Intellectual Property Forum Lecture titled "Customizing Fair Use Transplants" at the Intellectual Property School at South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, China (December 12, 2017).


• Presented "The Copyright Dilemmas in the Big Data Era" at the Intellectual Property in Big Data Era: Opportunities and Challenges Conference at the School of Law at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China (December 10-11, 2017).


• Presented "Digital Copyright Reform and the Fair Use Paradigm" at the International Conference on "New Paradigms of Law?" at National Chengchi University College of Law in Taipei, Taiwan (December 4-5, 2017).


• Served as the guest editor of Volume 8, Issue 1 of the Queen Mary Journal of Intellectual Property Law, curating a special issue on "The Modern Chinese Intellectual Property System at 35" (February 2018).


• Participated in a meeting of the external advisory board of the EIPIN Innovation Society in the Faculty of Law at Maastricht University in the Netherlands (January 26, 2018).


• Organized the Digital Millennium Copyright Act at 20: The Past, Present and Future of Global Digital Copyright Reform Symposium at Texas A&M University School of Law (March 23-24, 2018).