JD Program
In TI:GER®, JD students apply technology law in a laboratory environment leveraging early stage technology developed by PhD candidates in Science and Technology from Georgia Tech. Importantly the role of the law in the technology commercialization process is studied from each of three different perspectives: University Technology Transfer, Corporate Innovation and Intrapreneurship, and Venture Creation and Entrepreneurship. The program is designed to provide students with experience working across disciplines and an understanding of how technology researchers and business managers approach typical innovation issues. Importantly, JDs develop an appreciation of issues and concerns from the perspective of the "client."
The program takes two years to complete and can currently accommodate twelve to eighteen JD students per year, half interested in patent law (science/technical background required), half interested in technology law. Students apply in the spring of their first year of law school. Students selected for TI:GER® participate in the final two years of their matriculation at Emory. TI:GER® not only offers law students the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of intellectual property law, but also helps participants gain access to internships that would otherwise not be available.
As part of a multidisciplinary team, law students will help evaluate the commercial propects and intellectual property protection needs of research projects, and develop strategies for their exploitation. Law students participating in the program are required to take certain intellectual property and business law courses as well as a Fundamentals of Innovation and Technology Commercialization courses with students from Georgia Tech.
The Emory TechLaw™ Speaker Series runs in conjunction with TI:GER® and brings noted attorneys to the Law School to discuss cutting-edge issues in the practice of patent and technology law. The speaker series is required for TI:GER® JD students but is also open to all students. Upon successful completion of the program, each student will receive a certificate from the Law School providing substantiation of the students exceptional grounding in both the academic and practical aspects of intellectual property protection or business law aspects of high technology representation.
For more information, email questions to tiger(at)law.emory.edu