Intellectual Property Antitrust

3 Credit Hours

As intellectual property has grown in importance, the interaction between antitrust law and intellectual property has developed into a crucial part of the legal landscape. The course addresses both the rights of authors and inventors and the interest of society in promoting competition, expanding its base of knowledge, improving technology, and protecting consumer welfare. Hence, the course focuses upon appropriate limits that should be placed on the exercise of intellectual property rights. The course covers the misuse doctrine in patent and copyright law, as well as major cases and materials applying antitrust law in the patent, copyright, and trademark context. These issues are currently the subject of considerable public debate and litigation. The course also covers statutory excerpts from the relevant provisions of antitrust and intellectual property law,and the complete DOJ/FTC intellectual property licensing guidelines. No pre-requisites.