About
The innovations that produce economic growth and social progress first arise as ideas. The cost of bringing a new idea to market can be extraordinarily high, but the cost of copying that innovation is often very cheap. Intellectual property law tries to balance the incentive to create with society’s interest in spreading the benefits of innovation. The ability of digital technologies to copy and exploit the advantages of unique intellectual achievements presents new challenges for intellectual property law, making it one of the fastest-growing legal specialties in the United States. UVA Law School’s Center on Intellectual Property Law — combining a broad array of courses, hands-on clinics and professors who are focused on the real-world applications of their scholarship — offers students a unique foundation for exploring these challenges.
March 21, 2022
Professor John Duffy, director of the Intellectual Property Program, describes the school’s offerings in the field. This session was part of UVA Law’s 2022 Admitted Students Open House.
This Essay expounds on the outsized role of private law in governing ownership of new technologies and data. As scholars lament gaps between law and...
Peter S. Menell
David Almeling
Victoria A. Cundiff
...As the knowledge economy expanded and concerns about trade secret misappropriation mounted in the digital age, federal policymakers undertook efforts...
In 2018 the U.S. government announced that Chinese espionage was occurring in university research labs, and the Department of Justice subsequently...
Jennifer Mascott
Decisionmaking in the modern executive branch frequently rests on a convenient formalism. Ultimate power is typically vested in high-level...
This Article presents the first qualitative empirical review of permanent injunctions in trade secret cases. In addition, it explores the extent to...
Giulia Farrior
This Article analyzes the extraterritorial provision in the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) and considers the arguments on both sides of the question...
Faculty Director(s)
John F. Duffy
Samuel H. McCoy II Professor of Law
Class of 1966 Research Professor of Law
Director, Center on Intellectual Property Law
Elizabeth A. Rowe
Henry L. and Grace Doherty Charitable Foundation Professor of Law
Horace W. Goldsmith Research Professor of Law
Director, Center on Intellectual Property Law
Director, LawTech Center
Research
This Essay expounds on the outsized role of private law in governing ownership of new technologies and data. As scholars lament gaps between law and...
Peter S. Menell
David Almeling
Victoria A. Cundiff
...As the knowledge economy expanded and concerns about trade secret misappropriation mounted in the digital age, federal policymakers undertook efforts...
In 2018 the U.S. government announced that Chinese espionage was occurring in university research labs, and the Department of Justice subsequently...
Jennifer Mascott
Decisionmaking in the modern executive branch frequently rests on a convenient formalism. Ultimate power is typically vested in high-level...
This Article presents the first qualitative empirical review of permanent injunctions in trade secret cases. In addition, it explores the extent to...
Giulia Farrior
This Article analyzes the extraterritorial provision in the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) and considers the arguments on both sides of the question...
How should we allocate property rights in unowned tangible and intangible resources? This Article develops a model of original acquisition that draws...
As we enter the second year post enactment of the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, this Paper presents a snapshot of developments to assess whether...
Despite the blossoming of copyright law and authorship theories over the past decades, there has thus far been very little in terms of empirical...
Implantable medical devices measure and record data about the physiological development in a patient’s body, and communicate the data wirelessly to a...
More
Robert Brauneis
Who is the author in copyright law? Knowing who our copyright system currently incentivizes to create which works is a necessary precondition for...
This study is the first to conduct an in-depth empirical analysis of damages in trade secret cases in the U.S. From an original data set of cases in...
Sharon K. Sandeen
Recently, a cacophony of concerns have been raised about the propriety of noncompetition agreements (NCAs) entered into between employers and...
More
This symposium discussion of the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review focuses on the newly enacted Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). Panelists address...
More
Technology has facilitated both the amount of trade secrets that are now stored electronically, and the rise of cyber intrusions. Together, this has...
More
For more than a century, the commercial law of intellectual property has generated intense controversy with ever-growing stakes. The central fulcrum...
Assessing the fairness of settlements is an inherently difficult task. Because settlements foreclose the judicial determination of litigants’...
Michael Abramowitz
In Graham v. John Deere, the Supreme Court explained that patent law’s nonobviousness doctrine is meant to restrict the award of patents only to...
Daniel M. Mahfood
When a foreign individual or company misappropriates the trade secrets of an American company, and the acts of misappropriation occur entirely outside...
The registration records at the U.S. Copyright Office provide a valuable lens on the use and performance of the copyright system, but have not yet...
Nicholas Matich
In 2005 Congress created a new copyright formality: preregistration. Preregistration addresses a growing phenomenon in which copyrighted works are...
Tun-Jen Chiang
The ambiguity of claim language is generally considered to be the most important problem in patent law today. Linguistic ambiguity is believed to...
In today’s marketplace, companies from Disney to Hooters are increasingly integrating their image into the service that they provide. This has come to...
More
Michael Abramowitz
In Graham v. John Deere, the Supreme Court explained that patent law’s nonobviousness doctrine is meant to restrict the award of patents only to...
Genetically engineered plants and animals have become a large part of the food we consume. The United States is the world’s largest producer of...
In this paper we analyze how stand-up comedians protect their jokes using a system of social norms. Intellectual property law has never protected...
Earlier this year, Toyota issued recalls on over eight million vehicles because of faulty acceleration. Assume that the National Highway Traffic...
More
In tort law, the doctrine of contributory negligence captures conduct by the plaintiff which falls below the standard to which he should conform for...
Trade secret misappropriation litigation is often criticized for its negative effects on competition and speech. In particular, some accuse plaintiff...
This paper is grounded on the premise that sociological analysis can be of great benefit to trade secret law. More specifically, a sociological...
More
Resident Faculty
Resident Faculty
Administrative law, civil procedure, computer crime, federal courts, national security law
Corporate law and corporate finance
Privacy, First Amendment, feminism and the law, civil rights, administrative law
Corporations, securities and real estate law; consumer financial markets
Intellectual property, patents, administrative law
Bankruptcy and consumer finance law
Corporate law and securities, industrial and intellectual property, economic regulation and history
Property, corporations and land conservation, nonprofit organizations
Constitutional law, antitrust and communications regulation, national security
Intellectual property, law and economics
Trade secret law, intellectual property, trademark law, patent law
Legal theory, constitutional theory, procedure, philosophy of law
Other Faculty
William Charron
Lecturer
Richard Chylla
Lecturer
Robert J. Decker
Lecturer
Christopher Hockett
Lecturer
Rahul Keshap
Lecturer
Clare Lewis
Lecturer
Mike Lincoln
Lecturer
Amy Pruett
Lecturer
Pamela Rosen
Lecturer
Curriculum
The following is a list of courses offered during 2022-25. Numbers in parentheses indicate which academic year(s) the courses were offered, i.e., 2022-23 is coded (23), 2023-24 is coded (24) and 2024-25 is coded (25). (SC) stands for short course and (YR) stands for yearlong.
AI and IP (25)
Antitrust in the Digital Economy (SC) (24)
Art Law (SC) (24,25)
Biotechnology and the Law (25)
Computer Crime Law (24,25)
Copyright Law (23,24,25)
Emerging Growth Companies and Venture Capital Financing: Principles and Practice (23,24)
Internet Law (23)
Israeli Business Law and Innovation (SC) (23)
Law and Artificial Intelligence (23,25)
Law and Technology Colloquium (23,24)
Law of Artificial Intelligence (SC) (24)
Music Law: Analytical and Client Management Skills (SC) (23,24)
Patent Law (23,24,25)
Survey of Patent, Copyright, Trademark (23,24)
Trade Secret Law (23,24,25)
Trademark Law (23,24,25)
Transactional Intellectual Property Law (25)
Clinics
Advanced Patent and Licensing Clinic (23,24,25)
Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (23,24,25)
Patent and Licensing Clinic (23,24,25)
Actress Scarlett Johansson recently accused OpenAI of stealing her voice. Professor Dotan Oliar of the University of Virginia School of Law examines the controversy, the legal questions at stake and how artificial intelligence is changing intellectual property law.
Clinics
Being a good intellectual property lawyer requires adaptability in a dynamic field and an understanding of the realities of producing intellectual works.
Run in conjunction with the University of Virginia Patent Foundation, two patent clinics offer hands-on experience as students learn how and when to file patents and draft licensing agreements, deal with clients in the science and technology fields, and research and write about cutting-edge patent topics.
The first clinic involves practical training in patent drafting as well as the negotiation and drafting of patent and software license agreements. Students are assigned to one or more significant drafting and counseling projects and work in the office of the UVA Licensing & Ventures Group one day per week. Clinic participants may evaluate inventions and computer software for patentability and commercial value; counsel UVA faculty inventors regarding patentability, inventorship and the patenting process; prepare, file and prosecute provisional U.S. patent applications; and deal with patent examiners and research current issues in the fields of intellectual property and technology transfer. In a second clinic, the student may work exclusively with patent attorneys drafting, filing and prosecuting patent applications. Alternatively, the student may choose to work exclusively with licensing agents to draft license agreements, negotiate terms and conditions, and prepare confidentiality agreements and marketing documents.
Recent projects include:
- A patent application for a class of metals capable of recovering their original shape and thickness after impact or crushing
- Converting a provisional patent application on technology designed by a pharmacology professor that may halt the spread of cancerous cells
- A brief on pharmaceutical patents in developing countries
- A patent application for a battery-operated, handheld imaging device that promises to perform better than most ultrasound instruments
- Prior art search and a draft patent application for a novel seatbelt-control system
- Prior art review, market research and marketing for a neuro-stimulation technique for the treatment of epilepsy
In a new paper, University of Virginia School of Law professor Elizabeth Rowe argues public law has left gaps in data regulation that private law has filled, ceding ground to corporations when government should play a role.
Student Organizations
Law, Innovation, Security & Technology
LIST focuses on the novel legal, policy and business problems caused by the proliferation of emerging technologies, through speakers and other activities. The group also educates students and prepares them with practical skills; connects them with a network of mentors, experts and resources; and collaborates with the policy, business and technology communities. A recent networking event featured prominent attorneys from firms, U.S. attorneys’ offices, the Justice Department, the FBI and various public interest groups like the American Civil Liberties Union. More
Patent Law Society for Litigators, Agents and Prosecutors
The Patent Law Society for Litigators, Agents and Prosecutors (Patent Law SLAPs) provides a community for students interested in all things patent law. The organization covers all aspects of patent law, from the initial prosecution of a patent up through defending and asserting it in litigation. Through peer mentorship, faculty talks and industry guests, Patent Law SLAPs connects its students with career opportunities after graduation. The organization was founded in 2023 to meet the demand for patent-focused opportunities for UVA Law students. More
Virginia Journal of Law & Technology (VJOLT)
Virginia Law's only e-journal, VJOLT provides a forum for students, professors and practitioners to discuss emerging issues at the intersection of law and technology. Recent issues have included articles on biotechnology, telecommunications, e-commerce, internet privacy and encryption. VJOLT publishes full-text articles directly to the Web. More
Virginia Law Emerging Companies and Venture Capital Society
ECVC is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurial initiatives across Grounds, connecting law students with students from other schools, and serving as a hub for those interested in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial law. More
Other Organizations
The Virginia Law and Business Society explores the nexus between the worlds of law and business and sometimes features speakers on intellectual property topics. The JD/MBA Society serves as a focal point for communication between J.D. and MBA students and sponsors events and activities that promote interaction among the Law and Business School communities.
First-year University of Virginia School of Law student Lauren Grohowski discusses her inventions and how her father’s experience as a lawyer fueled her interest going into law.
Staci Riordan, partner and chair of the Fashion Law Practice Group at Fox Rothschild, spoke about her professional experiences and growth in the field as part of the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology's Symposium "The Future of Fashion Law."
News
October 15, 2024
In a new paper, University of Virginia School of Law professor Elizabeth Rowe argues public law has left gaps in data regulation that private law has filled, ceding ground to corporations when government should play a role.
June 7, 2024
Actress Scarlett Johansson recently accused OpenAI of stealing her voice. Professor Dotan Oliar of the University of Virginia School of Law examines the controversy, the legal questions at stake and how artificial intelligence is changing intellectual property law.
February 1, 2024
First-year University of Virginia School of Law student Lauren Grohowski discusses her inventions and how her father’s experience as a lawyer fueled her interest going into law.
October 27, 2022
New courses offered this winter and spring at the University of Virginia School of Law include International and Comparative Family Law, Dignity Law, and Trade Secret Law.
July 29, 2022
Milan Shah, an incoming first-year law student at the University of Virginia, holds a biomedical engineering master’s degree from Clemson University and several inventions. His goal is to become a patent and intellectual property lawyer and a patent judge.
April 13, 2022
Elizabeth A. Rowe, an internationally renowned expert in intellectual property and trade secrets, will join the University of Virginia School of Law faculty in the fall.
October 15, 2021
Professors John Duffy and Ruth Mason of the University of Virginia School of Law were elected members of the American Law Institute, bringing the number of UVA Law faculty affiliated with ALI to 28.
June 28, 2021
Elizabeth Tuan ’13, a partner at Los Angeles-based Irell & Manella, has won big patent litigation verdicts, yet has also fought for the small consumer in her pro bono work.
February 3, 2020
Professor Margaret Foster Riley of the University of Virginia School of Law has been appointed to a new National Institutes of Health advisory committee that’s exploring challenges with emerging biotechnologies.
November 26, 2019
A University of Virginia School of Law clinic will return to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to argue the copyright case Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org Inc .
June 24, 2019
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a University of Virginia School of Law clinic case that could have broad implications in the field of copyright law.
January 11, 2019
A conference at the University of Virginia School of Law on Jan. 25 will examine how technology is threatening democratic institutions and what the law is doing about it.
July 23, 2018
William Charron ’98, a University of Virginia School of Law alumnus, explains how he came to found the Court of Arbitration for Art in Europe.
May 22, 2017
The Supreme Court today released a decision that will significantly curb so-called "forum-shopping" in patent infringement cases, handing a win to a legal team that includes John Duffy , a University of Virginia School of Law professor. The Supreme Court ruled 8-0 in TC Heartland v. Kraft Food
November 21, 2016
We asked key players in media and entertainment, what's the next big challenge for your industry?
October 28, 2015
The possibility of an international legal instrument to protect indigenous IP rights remains alive thanks to the efforts of Professor Margo Bagley and international delegates who worked down to the wire at recent World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly talks.
August 11, 2015
About a dozen University of Virginia School of Law faculty members dedicated time this summer to teaching and speaking at locations around the world. Five professors taught in Germany, a popular spot for Law School academics. As part of an annual faculty exchange program between the University of
July 29, 2015
University of Virginia School of Law students Laura Franks, Arianna Lacerte and Nicole Marschean scored a hat trick this summer, landing internships with the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. The students, all entering their second year of law
June 25, 2015
University of Virginia School of Law professor Ruth Mason , an expert in comparative taxation, facilitated a victory for tax justice in the U.S. when her amicus brief , co-authored with Michael S. Knoll of the University of Pennsylvania, helped persuade the Supreme Court in its decision last month
June 4, 2015
The First Amendment Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law has prevailed in its latest Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Justice. The clinic recently obtained copies of 18 deals the department made with big businesses and other entities to settle alleged
Elizabeth Tuan ’13, a partner at Los Angeles-based Irell & Manella, has won big patent litigation verdicts, yet has also fought for the small consumer in her pro bono work.
Upcoming Events
Patent Law Society Firm Hospitality Suite
Thursday, November 14, 2024, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Join the Patent Law Society and Finnegan LLP for a hospitality suite.
Contact:
Andrew Silver
Patent Law Society for Litigators, Agents, and Prosecutors (Patent Law SLAPs)
WB116
March 21, 2022
Professor John Duffy, director of the Intellectual Property Program, describes the school’s offerings in the field. This session was part of UVA Law’s 2022 Admitted Students Open House.