IP Overview syllabus

ABOUT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OVERVIEW

Intellectual property, or “IP,” is at the center of some of today’s most important legal disputes. Accordingly, any well-studied lawyer ought to have knowledge of the topic. This course serves as an overview of major areas of intellectual property law, namely, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secrets, and right of publicity. The class serves three purposes. First, it is aimed at students who want to learn the basics of IP law so that they become better able to identify IP issues that may arise in practice. Second, this course serves as a foundation for students wishing to explore the IPL @ STU certificate program, which offers specialized IP courses. Third, it serves as a way for students to integrate concepts found in other 1L and foundational courses, because IP law often reflects concepts arising from the law of torts, contracts, property, procedure, and even criminal law.

This course counts as a “core” course towards the St. Thomas Law Intellectual Property certificate (IPL @ STU) program. For details on the IP certificate, click here.

BOOKS

Required materials are the course website, a free statute book, and a low-cost E&E book.

1. Course Website: Site at https://www.nathenson.org/courses/ip-overview/. This website is your source for the syllabus, assignments, and other materials. Details on the course website are provided below.
2. McJohn E&E: Stephen M. McJohn, Intellectual Property: Examples & Explanations (6th ed. 2018/2019). You can use the online version of this book for FREE by using the Wolters Kluwer Online Study Aid Library. To do this, go to the Law Library’s Digital Library page here. Log on using your STU account and then click the Study Aid Library Online – by Wolters Kluwer link. (You may have to log in a second time.) Search for the Glannon Intellectual Property book. We’re going to use the new 6th version from 2018/19 and NOT the 5th edition. You can also buy the book online if you want but I haven’t asked the bookstore to get the book since most of you will be happy with the free online version. One potential benefit of the print book is that you can bring the printed book into the exam because PRINTED materials such as notes, outlines, and books may be brought into the exam. I would assume (without knowing) that you can also print out portions of the online book as well, but you should test that for yourselves. I believe that printouts are limited, so if you’re going to print from the online book, then print out just sections that you think are useful for your outline.
3. Statute handouts (free): I’ve prepared statutory handouts, which are accessible on the assignments page.

ACCESSING CLASS ONLINE

To log into class: Class takes place via Zoom. I will email you logon info. It will not be posted here.

COURSE WEBSITE

Assignments and course-related materials will be posted to the course website at https://www.nathenson.org/courses/ip-overview/. In addition, selected course-related announcements and materials may be sent to your official St. Thomas Law email account.

LEARNING OUTCOMES & METHODOLOGIES

Learning outcomes. The goals for this course, some assessed, some not directly assessed, include:

• Teaching students to identify selected IP issues that might arise in practice.
• Laying a foundation for students who wish to later take dedicated IP courses.
• Using IP to integrate concepts found in foundational 1L courses.
• Providing overviews of major areas of federal and state IP protection:
  • Comparisons of the major areas of IP protection.
  • Copyright: subject matter, basic exclusions, ownership & duration, exclusive rights, direct liability, and major defenses.
  • Patent: subject matter, exclusions, novelty/utility/nonobviousness, and infringement.
  • Trademark: subject matter, protectable/unprotectable symbols, searching, acquisition, priority, assignment, and loss of rights.
  • State IP: trade secrets (subject matter, reasonable security measures, public disclosure, and misappropriation) and right of publicity.
• Opportunities to engage in construction of IP statutes.
• Introduction to representative tools and activities of IP practitioners such as the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark websites, searching, reading patents, and more.

Learning methodologies/assessment. As a one-credit course, the breadth and depth of IP topics covered will be by necessity limited. Interested students should follow up their studies by taking additional courses that go into further depth on topics of interest. In addition, because the course will be taught over four sessions of three-plus hours each, the approach taken will differ significantly from other upper-level courses. Put differently, long-session learning requires that a variety of learning approaches are used, in order to keep engagement and energy levels high. Thus, a typical class session may include:

• Discussion of readings from accessible Examples & Explanations hornbook.
• Construction of key IP statutes.
• Lecture components with audiovisual and hypotheticals.
• Breakout group discussions with follow-up class discussion.
• Experiential learning in breakout groups, doing things such as trademark searching, reading patents, and more.
• Formative assessment through quizzes to gauge student comprehension of assigned materials.

ASSIGNMENTS

Place to find assignments. See the course website at https://www.nathenson.org/courses/ip-overview/ for the first assignments and all future assignments.

Assignments, ABA Standard 310, and tips for preparation for all sessions. ABA Standard 310 requires that each hour of in-person instruction correspond to approximately 2 hours of out-of-class student work. Each of these sessions are 3.5 hours long, so the materials in each class session below–prepared properly–will take you about one working day of prep each. You absolutely must do the work. Most of it is really cool stuff and fun, but I must emphasize your need to do all of these ahead of time. Class is a combination of lecture, questions, discussion, and activities, and as an overview course, it covers a lot of ground quickly and moves at a brisk pace. If you think you can skip preparation and “pick it up” from lecture, I can assure you, you will not. In class, I will assume that you are properly prepared and class will proceed under that assumption. I recognize that you may find some readings more complex, and I will be happy to discuss such points to help you to understand them. But it is your responsibility to lay the foundation for these classes by diligently preparing each session.

Necessity of preparation. Because each class will build heavily on the matters discussed in our first session, all students are expected to be well-prepared for the first class and every class following. With only four weeks in the teaching semester, it is crucial to stay on top of the assignments from the beginning. Along those lines, there will be a short quiz at the beginning of each class, including the first class.

GRADING

Up to ten percent of your course grade will be based on the quizzes. The remainder will be based on the final examination. The final examination will be open book for the following materials: your notes, outline, the book or any printouts from the book, and any handouts provided by me. You can find further tentative details regarding the final examination on the IP Overview assignments page.

POLICIES

100% attendance is mandatory. Because there are only four (4) regular class sessions, 100% attendance is mandatory. Missing any one class (including the first week) would put you over the limit for the St. Thomas Law attendance policy. There are no exceptions.

Class attendance. Class attendance means, among other things, that you are in your seat (or logged in for online classes) and ready to start work on time. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for you to be in your seat and ready to start on time. Because this is a long class, we will take one or more breaks. Accordingly, please do not exit the classroom without good cause. Also, barring a bona fide reason approved by me, your camera must remain on during class, particularly during any quizzes or exams. You must also use your real name on screen.

Sign-in sheet. For Summer 2020, I will take attendance online. Should future versions of the class take place in person, then the policy would be as follows: the sole measure of your attendance is the sign-in sheet, which you must sign while in class. You may not ask or allow somebody to sign for you, nor may you sign for anybody else. Equally so, I do not keep track of who is in class on any particular day, so if you do not sign the sheet, do not come to me later asking me to allow you to sign. 

Technology. 

Normal rule: Because substantial portions of the materials will be presented in a lecture format, laptops and tablets will be permitted. Sounds should be turned off and devices should be used for class-related purposes only. Respect the freedom of your colleagues and me to speak and discuss freely, so do not record any portion of the class without my prior written permission.

Rule for Summer of 2020: Class is online. Of course you’ll need to use your electronics to attend and participate. However, note that this is still a participatory class, and you will both be able to ask questions and be expected to participate. And I know that with some online classes, student attention tends to wander. I can assure you, this is a class where you will need to pay attention, and you will be well advised to avoid additional online distractions (email, web surfing, social media) during class.

Accommodations. If any students believe they need, or are entitled to receive, any accommodations due to a disability they should consult with the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs (John Hernandez) as early as possible. Further information on accommodations can be found at http://www.stu.edu/law/students/disability-accommodations.