Intellectual Property Law

Overview

Intellectual property (IP) law involves the protection of artistic and scientific expression, including inventions. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), IP can properly be divided into two distinct categories:

  1. Copyright, which governs rights to literary and artistic works such as novels, poems, plays, films, music, paintings, sculptures, and architecture; and
  2. Industrial Property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, and industrial designs. Some aspects of computer law, such as software licensing agreements, also fall under the category of IP.

Both types of IP attorneys work with a variety of clients from large corporations to individuals, and due to today’s global economy, many have an international component to their work. IP lawyers focus on obtaining the rights to intellectual property created by the client (such as assisting an inventor in obtaining a patent) or protecting the client’s rights to intellectual property that has already been created (such as suing for trademark or copyright violations). Most IP lawyers will specialize in one or two key areas, and it is particularly important to note that attorneys who specialize in obtaining (“prosecuting”) patents are required to have some technical and/or scientific training and to pass the Patent Bar Exam

Skills/Personality Characteristics

  • Excellent oral and written communication skills
  • Good interpersonal and negotiation skills
  • An understanding of private international law
  • An awareness of social and consumer issues
  • An understanding of business and economics
  • Patent attorneys need to have an interest in and a broad array of technical and scientific subjects, and most are required to have a background in a scientific or technical field.

Where do intellectual property lawyers practice?

IP lawyers typically work for the IP department in large firms or in small to medium-sized firms that focus exclusively on IP. Some work as in-house counsel in corporations or not-for-profit organizations such as colleges or universities. IP lawyers may also work for the federal government in the Patent and Trademark Office or the United States Copyright Office.

Selected Related Courses at Brandeis School of Law

These courses have been taught in the last two years and may or may not be on the schedule for the next academic year. If you are interested in a course listed here, but the course is not on the schedule, please see the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.

  • Intellectual Property
  • Trademark Law
  • International Intellectual Property
  • Copyright
  • Business Organizations
  • Business Torts
  • Right of Publicity
  • Copyright Seminar
  • Intellectual Property and Competition
  • Authors’ and Performers’ Rights
  • Design Protection Law
  • Law and Computers

Selected Faculty Who Teach in This Area

John Cross
David J. Ensign
Lars S. Smith

Placement Opportunities

  • UofL Office of Technology Development

Professional Associations

  • American Intellectual Property Law Association
  • Louisville Bar Association Intellectual Property Section

For further reading, New Practitioner's Guide to Intellectual Property, David Gerk & John Fleming, 2012, and Careers in Intellectual Property Law, American Bar Association, 1993, are available at the Law Library.