A study of federal and international laws protecting the innovative endeavors of authors. Topics include the history of copyright law, fair use of copyrighted materials, what can be copyrighted, and the interaction of copyright law with other concepts of unfair competition and intellectual property.

An overview of the basic principles of intellectual property law, including coverage of trade secret, trademark, patent, and copyright fundamentals. Prerequisite: One year of law school in the full-time or part-time program. May be offered as a distance education course.

This course presents a study of the international fabric of patent, copyright, and trademark law under both domestic laws and international treaties. Students will examine the foundation of international intellectual property policies underlying medicinal herbs, counterfeit goods, genetic material, and traditional knowledge. The flow of information and content across borders has placed heightened tension on international intellectual property law and has resulted in increased pressure to harmonize diverse legal frameworks.

The study of how proprietary interests in technology are protected by patent law, with a focus on issues relating to validity, the nature of the subject matter protected, and enforcement of proprietary rights.

Using the principles of unfair competition law, this course examines the creation, maintenance, and enforcement of trademark rights, as well as related doctrines of rights of publicity, trade dress, trade secrets, and false advertising. It also includes an exploration of public policies and economy underlying trademark law.

This course provides an in-depth exploration and analysis of various issues in intellectual property law through an analysis of some of the seminal cases in IP jurisprudence. In contrast to many law school courses, which enable the study of law through excerpted portions of cases on particular topics, this course will dig beneath the surface and explore the depths of intellectual property theory and policy as they manifest in individual cases throughout history. We will not seek to canvass the area of IP, but rather explore foundational aspects of intellectual property through individual case stories, other primary and secondary resource material, and seminal law review articles.

International and domestic legal issues and disputes pertaining to the creation, ownership, use and preservation of works of visual art and objects of cultural heritage.

Introduction to legal practice known as art law; examination of legal and ethical issues relating to the creation, discovery, ownership, transfer and use of works of visual art, from ancient to contemporary; stakeholders include artists and their subjects, individual and corporate collectors, museums, dealers, auction houses, cultural institutions, treasure hunters, scholars, indigenous groups, sovereign nations, and the general public; examination, discussion, and debate of applicable civil and criminal laws and regulations, case law, international treaties and codes of ethics, as well as contracts and other documents used in art law practice.

Issues relating to health care and drug prices are constantly in the news. Recently, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that 77% of the American public picked increasing prices of pharmaceuticals as their foremost health care concern. As aspiring lawyers it is important for you to understand the issues that present itself in this area of law.
Issues relating to pharmaceutical pricing, research and patents are all inter-related. This seminar will expound the converging questions in this area. Themed like a story, each session will deal with one important issue. We will begin with how patents operate in the area of biotechnology and expound regulatory issues such as the FDA, move on to questions of generic drugs, international access to medication issues and more. Students will contrast issues from biotechnology with one other area of business, the telecommunications industry, to present students with the contrast involved in both of these areas of law. The objective is: a) for the students to understand substantive as well as procedural questions involved in this area, and, b) to capture a broad range of issues so that students with diverse interests can participate and make the experience vibrant.

This course provides a basic overview of law and policy in the regulation of communications; including broadcasting; cable; wireline and wireless telephony; as well as more advanced areas such as broadband and Internet communications. We will focus on these technological advances to explore the ways in which legal; economic; social; and technological forces shape and are harnessed by legal systems faced with rapid change. The course will draw primarily on leading communications law cases; statutes; and FCC and FTC regulatory actions; focusing on issues such as net neutrality; privacy; free speech and broadcast indecency; competition; and spectrum policy.

An examination of basic legal concepts that govern transactions in the entertainment industry, including the constitutional protections of entertainment speech, the rights of individuals who restrict it, copyright fundamentals, contract issues peculiar to the field, and prevailing standards and practices of “the Business.”

This course will offer an overview of the legal issues related to the fashion industry. In particular, this course will emphasize the analysis of the intellectual property aspects--primarily, but not exclusively, trademarks, design, and copyright--of the protection of fashion items This course will also address the business aspects of the fashion industry and some emerging issues, including the growing movement of sustainable (and slow) fashion as well as the potential impact of disruptive technologies, such as 3D printing, on the manufacturing and distribution of fashion items.

Exploration of issues related to the concept of information privacy; examination of the collection, use, protection and disclosure of personal and other information by government entities and private sector actors, both domestically and cross-jurisdictionally; considers multiple regulatory schemes, including constitutional, tort, contract, property, statutory, administrative and international rules.

This course focuses on the analysis of the international system regulating the protection of trademark rights and a selected number of comparative examples. In this respect, this course surveys the relevant international conventions in the field of trademarks as well as selected regional and bilateral agreements. It also addresses variations in the national implementation of these laws across different jurisdictions. In particular, the course considers the international framework with respect to the scope of trademark rights, trademark registration, infringement, defenses, and remedies. It also touches upon other distinctive signs, in particular geographical indications of origin.

Through a review of the relevant provisions of U.S. law and multilateral treaties, this seminar covers the international components of copyrights, patents, trademarks, and other forms of intellectual property rights. The course also examines recent developments in the European Union and problems of enforcing intellectual property rights in developing countries.

This course focuses on the transference (or lack of transference) of bricks-and-mortar legal principles to new methods of communication. It looks at recent developments in cyberspace law and provides a survey of legal issues on the internet, including both policy and pragmatic application of jurisdictional principles, intellectual property laws, privacy rights, computer crime, proprietary information, and freedom of speech issues, as well as a full-scale analysis and explication of the question, “Is Google really God?”

Exploration of issues patent litigators should consider prior to filing a complaint for patent infringement; includes the market for patent enforcement; substantive assessment of cases; valuation of cases and economics of patent litigation; best practices for patent case assessment and pre-litigation ethical considerations; complaint drafting.

A thorough look at both the academic (e.g., labor and antitrust) and practical (e.g., contracts and agents) aspects of professional sports and the emerging field of sports law, including rules governing Olympic competition, the NCAA, and other amateur athletics.

This course explores complex interrelationships between technological, economic, cultural, political, and legal influences that shape the information society. As a seminar, this course will satisfy the rigorous writing requirement.

Work with entrepreneurs on transactional matters in connection with the founding and/or development of a small business; emphasis on legal issues involved in starting a business including choice of entity, entity formation and founding agreements. May be taken three times for credit. May be repeated for credit.

The Patent Clinic offers the ability to work with entrepreneurs in support of their perfection of patent matters. To this end, you will focus largely on preparation of patent applications in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the USPTO). This may include preparation of patent applications in a variety of technical fields, such as electrical, mechanical, and chemical arts, though the particular work done is naturally dictated by a combination of your technical background, your professor’s technical backgrounds, and the technologies our clients need protection for. The goal of the Patent Clinic is to prepare you to enter a law firm, in-house setting, or your own practice. While legal principles will be covered where applicable, this course will emphasize the practical aspects of how patent applications should be prepared to maximize client value and minimize risks of rejection by the USPTO. You will engage in interviewing and counseling of clients and will also make presentations on legal issues to the clients. In working with clients and the United States Patent and Trademark office, you will be supervised by a professor who is also an experienced patent attorney. This clinic is certified by the USPTO.

The Trademark & Copyright Clinic helps small business owners and creative entrepreneurs protect intellectual property rights in their brands by preparing, filing and prosecuting applications for federal trademark registration in the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), copyright registration in the United States Copyright Office. In addition, we review and prepare licensing, transfer, and related agreements. Throughout, students are instructed and take the lead in client interviewing and counseling, together with managing the details of their client matters. The clinic engages actual clients with real-world products and services across a wide variety of industries, then works directly with those clients, the USPTO, and the U.S. Copyright Office throughout the semester. The clinical offices operate as part of a mid-sized law firm in downtown Fort Worth, where client work is discussed and conducted during a seminar class and office hours, honing their lawyering skills as they put substantive law into practice. This clinic is certified by the USPTO.