IP Course Offerings at Emory Law
A list of courses related to IP law and commercialization of technology.
602. Accounting for Lawyers (2 hours)
This course is designed for those liberal arts majors who know nothing about accounting and finance. It will introduce fundamental bookkeeping and accounting concepts and process in survey fashion through generally accepted accounting principals and issues raised by the subjectivity in those principals, and it explores the end result of the accounting process: the financial statement.
608. Intellectual Property (3 hours)
An introduction to the basic principles, policies and statutes in the area of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. The scope of protection afforded by these areas is explored and compared.
612. Commercial Law: Sales (3 hours)
A study of the law governing sales of personal property, including an introduction to such supporting institutions as documents of title and letters of credit.
613. Licensing (1 hour)
The class will be geared toward the general practitioner. It relates to the assignment and licensing of intellectual property including patent, trademark, and copyright. Clauses specific to particular types of intellectual property matters will be analyzed. Guest speakers from various industries will speak on their licensing activities.
628. Introduction to Law & Economics (3 Hours)
Because economics provides a tool for studying how legal rules affect the way people behave, understanding economic analysis of legal problems has become an important part of a lawyer's education. The ability to predict the effects of legal rules helps the practicing lawyer furnish advice and make arguments before courts. It is also a prerequisite for the evaluation of legal policy. The course explores several economic methods and concepts and applies them to illuminate and critique familiar areas of law, including criminal law, torts, contracts, property and civil procedure. There are no prerequisites for this course; a background in economics is not necessary (or even very helpful).
631. Computer Law (2 hours)
A survey of copyright, patent, and trade secret protection for software. Includes topics such as international intellectual property protection for computers, contracts relating to computers, taxation of computer products and information services, privacy, right to accuracy, antitrust, trademark law, computer standardization and restrictions on competition.
636. Mergers and Acquisitions (3 hours)
An examination of the negotiated business acquisition, placed in the setting of the active market for hostile takeovers. Focuses on the problems facing attorneys representing buyers and sellers in the negotiating and closing process.
636X. Mergers & Acquisitions Workshop (2 hours)
This class is designed to provide law school students who intend to practice transactional law with some of the basic practical skills required to counsel companies with respect to business combinations. The focus of the course will be to identify and discuss the factors involved in a typical business combination, the roles of the parties and the relevant documents. The course is intended to ease the transition from law school to junior transactional associate.
641. Corporate Practice Workshop (3 hours)
A workshop providing students with broad exposure to a variety of corporate problems, including contract negotiation and drafting typical of current corporate practice, complex corporate structuring issues, joint ventures and non-litigation corporate dispute resolution.
642. Federal Income Taxation: Corporations (3 hours)
A survey of the general structure of corporate taxation. Considers the tax problems involved in the creation of corporations; capital structure; corporate distributions; reorganizations, divisions, and liquidations; personal holding companies; collapsible corporations; subchapter S corporations; and accumulated earnings tax. Prerequisite: Federal Income Taxation: Individuals.
649. Law & Biodiversity (3 hours)
This interdisciplinary course will assess the relationship of law and policy to the conservation of biodiversity. The course will focus on three complex concepts – biodiversity, adaptive management and sustainable development – with an emphasis on issues surrounding the Everglades. The goal of the course is to explore and test the three concepts, each of which has emerged in the past decade as a central aspect of modern conservation policy.
656. Negotiations (2 hours)
An exploration of the theoretical and practical aspects of negotiating settlements in both a litigation and a transactional context. The objectives of the course will be to develop proficiency in a variety of negotiation techniques as well as a substantive knowledge of the theory and practice, or the art and science of negotiation.
659C. Doing Deals: Venture Capital Law (3 hours)
This course will study the business and legal issues in venture capital transactions. The course will be taught primarily through simulations.
659E. Doing Deals: IP Practice (3 hours)
The course will focus on current hot issues in IP and will combine these topics with real world transactional practice exercises. This course is designed to offer students with an interest in intellectual property the opportunity to explore in greater depth a limited number of current and cutting edge intellectual property topics and to experience first-hand how these legal concepts would manifest in a transactional practice setting.
667. Securities Regulation (3 hours)
A study of federal and state regulation of the issue, distribution, and transfer of securities. Explores the availability of exemptions from registration and the duties of participants in these securities transactions to comply with antifraud regulations. Some time is spent on the growing literature appraising securities regulation.
680. Food & Drug Law (3 Hours)
Food and drug law involves the statutory and regulatory framework governing the development and marketing of food, drugs, medical devices, biological products and cosmetics. This introductory course serves as a starting point for understanding how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration attempts both to protect the public health and foster our national desire and need for innovation in science, medicine and the safety of our food supply. In particular, the course will study how FDA and the courts have enforced and interpreted the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to implement a regulatory system for a wide range of products that affect our daily lives. Dialogue and questions on how food and drug law has confronted and adapted to scientific and technological progress, public health challenges, constitutional controversies and policy-based perspectives will be encouraged. Additionally, the course covers such contemporary issues as food safety; balancing the benefits and risks of certain drugs, devices and biological products and how best to communicate that information to healthcare professionals and consumers; expediting approval of drugs designed for life-threatening diseases; clinical trials for experimental products; and regulation of biotechnology, such as tissue engineering and gene therapy. Other specific topics include: regulation of food labeling and sanitation; regulation of dietary supplements; administrative rulemaking; advertising and promotion controls; preemption of state laws; and strategies for handling government investigations and enforcement actions.
687. Bioethics & Public Health Law (2 hours)
This course covers (1) confidentiality of patient medical information; (2) refusal to provide, and withdrawal of, medical care and life support to terminally ill patients, including brain death definition, medical futility and physician assisted suicide; (3) organ donation and transplantation; (4) reproductive rights and limits, including abortion, fetal interest, surrogacy, and reproductive technologies; (5) laws relating to genetic information and human genetic research; (6) informed consent to treatment; and (7) public health law survey, including legal authority to protect the public health, regulation of access to drugs, quarantine, civil commitment, mandatory testing, and mandatory reporting of gunshot wounds, suspected child abuse and certain diseases.
693. Sports and Advertising Law (2 hours)
This course will provide a practical overview of the laws governing professional sports and advertising, examining issues relating to the various participants - the fans, the sponsors, the owners, the teams, the leagues, the players and the coaches. Advertising is included in this overview of the laws governing sports because marketing the teams is such an integral part of the operation of a professional sports team and knowledge of the various laws surrounding advertising and promotions would benefit anyone interested in this industry.
701. Administrative Law (3 Hours)
Much of the law we live under is made and then applied by administrative agencies. Administrative law is a study of how this law is made and then applied. Specific topics include the constitutional standards under which legislative and judicial power is transferred to agencies; the procedures that control agency lawmaking and adjudication, and the availability and scope of judicial review of agency action.
702. Antitrust Law (3 hours)
A study of the federal regulation of competitive practices under the Sherman, Clayton, and Federal Trade Commission Acts. Antitrust problems such as joint activities by direct competitors, monopolization by single firms, restraints imposed by manufacturers on their distributors and mergers are covered.
708. Patent Practice and Procedure (2 hours)
This course introduces the students to the fundamentals of patent practice before the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO), by focusing on the drafting of patent claims, patent specifications and responses and amendments to Office Actions, as well as undertaking patent clearance studies. In addition to learning such skills, students will become familiar with the U.S. patent statutes, USPTO regulations, case law and customs and practice relating to drafting and pursuing patent applications to issuance through the Patent Office. The course has two primary components: (1) lectures that introduce the students to the subject matter to be studied, and (2) practical skills-oriented homework and in-class exercises that will allow the students to hone their patent practice skills.
710. Copyright Law (3 hours)
Copyright law offers protection for works considered to be within the "fine arts" (music, paintings, photographs, sculpture) and "literature" (books, stories, plays) as well as more mundane works, including commercial, i.e., applied art and even data directories. Copyright also covers architectural works and works reliant on technology, such as computer software. This course examines copyright law, its history, and its ability to respond to recent developments in technology. Course topics include the standards governing copyrightability; the exclusive rights a copyright confers; infringement; defenses, including "fair use"; and remedies.
712. Corporate Finance (3 hours)
A study of financial and economic theory underlying legal doctrines in corporate finance, and the relationship between these doctrines. Focuses on decisions about "value" in the context of such areas as bankruptcy reorganization, dissenters' appraisal rights, and public utility regulation. Problems of capital structure and the duties of directors to various classes of claimants are studied in light of decisions about dividend policy and reinvestment. Includes a brief review of modern portfolio theory.
713. Secured Credit (3 hours)
A study of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, covering transactions in which an extender of credit contracts for a lien on personal property to secure repayment. Consumer transactions such as financing the purchase of an automobile, and such commercial transactions as borrowing against accounts receivable.
719. Trademark Law (3 hours)
This course examines the law governing trademarks and other means of identifying products and services in the minds of consumers. Instruction primarily will focus on the federal statute governing trademarks and unfair competition, the Lanham Trademark Act of 1946, but students will learn about state laws and state law doctrines in the field as well. Topics include the protectibility of marks, including words, symbols, and “trade dress”; federal registration of marks; causes of action for infringement, dilution, and “cybersquatting”; and defenses, including parodies protected by the First Amendment.
720. Entertainment Law (3 hours)
This course will provide an overview of the rapidly developing body of law associated with the entertainment industries concentrating in the areas of music publishing and commercial recording, live performance, literary publishing and motion pictures. The course will focus on a study of entertainment law cases, aspects of copyright law, personal rights and negotiation of entertainment agreements.
730. International Business Transactions (3 hours)
A consideration of the most important legal problems that arise in the movement of goods, money and services across national borders. Using a problem approach, the course will analyze the legal issues involved in international contracts, such as an agreement for the international sale of goods, and international joint venture agreement, and a licensing agreement for the transfer of technology. We will also cover the basic legal issues involved in government regulation of international trade, such as protection of intellectual property, antidumping and countervailing duties, impact relief and export controls.
754. Patent Law (3 hours)
The availability and parameters of patent protection is increasing in importance in the information age. The Internet, advances in biotechnology, and divergent court opinions are impacting this area in far-reaching ways. This course provides an overview of patent law for students interested in the area, including those without a technical or scientific background. Topics include patentable subject matter, utility, statutory bars to patentability, novelty, non-obviousness, disclosure and enablement, patent prosecution issues, infringement, remedies and more.
754A. Patent Litigation (3 hours)
This course explores the major issues not only of procedural and substantive law but also strategic considerations facing a lawyer involved in patent litigation. The course will proceed chronologically through a patent infringement case to be filed in a district court, including jurisdiction, venue, pleadings, discovery, experts, trial preparation, proving infringement and defenses at trial, remedies, and post-verdict issues. Students will work in groups to prepare various problems and to present arguments in a claim construction or summary judgment hearing. The course will also explore substantive patent law that is specific to the litigation context, such as patent misuse defenses and the various forms of infringement, such as extraterritorial enforcement of US patents and pharmaceutical litigation over Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs).
905. Taxation of Pass-thru Entities (3 hours)
An introduction to the taxation of partnerships and S corporations, the two forms of business enterprise not generally subject to federal income taxation. Covers both the structure of pass-thru entity taxation and the detailed rules applicable to partnerships and S corporations.
942. Federal Income Tax: Partnerships (3 hours)
The course covers the tax consequences of formations, operations and dissolutions of partnerships and limited liability companies. The course should be of particular relevance to students interested in federal taxation or real estate transactions.
826. Seminar: Patents and Their Role in Global Economic Development and Access to Health (3 hours)
What is the current debate over the role of patents in promoting or impeding economic development, and how will it evolve? How are international patent standards and norms shaped by this debate? What role can and should U.S. patent policy play in addressing issues of global development and access to health technologies? This seminar will begin with a survey of the basic framework governing international standards for patent protection and enforcement. We will then examine the ways in which patents and patent law impact global economic development and global access to health. The seminar will include the study of alternative methodologies for understanding and evaluating patent systems and their role in international development and global health as well as concrete case studies that question the current patent system and its impact. Students will be asked to develop and contribute their own views on the role(s) that patent policy should, could, or should not play in global economic development and global access to health.