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News Release

Last modified: Thursday, May 5, 2011

IU Maurer School of Law launches Center for Intellectual Property Research

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. --The Indiana University Maurer School of Law has launched the Center for Intellectual Property Research (CIPR), according to Mark D. Janis, JD'89, Robert A. Lucas Chair of Law and the Center's Director.

Janis said that the purpose of the center is to support the study of all aspects of intellectual property law and related fields, including patent, trademark and unfair competition, copyright and information policy. It is located at the Maurer School of Law's main building in Bloomington.

"Technology has become the dominant force in the global economy," Janis explained. "Every lawyer needs to understand how technology intersects with the law, and in no area is that intersection more salient than in intellectual property law. The center will promote a dialogue on intellectual property law among scholars, judges, policymakers, practitioners and students."

"The Center for Intellectual Property Research joins five other centers affiliated with the Maurer School of Law," said Lauren Robel, dean and Val Nolan Professor of Law. "Like our other centers, it enables us to provide a full range of specialized resources to the global legal community." Robel specifically mentioned the law school's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research and Elmore Entrepreneurship Law Clinic, along with IU's Center for Law, Ethics, and Applied Research (CLEAR) in Health Information, as being closely allied with the CIPR's mission.

During the spring semester, the center hosted several high-profile intellectual property events. In April, Professor Graeme Dinwoodie (Oxford), an internationally renowned IP scholar, spent two weeks at the law school, culminating in his delivery of the George P. Smith, II, Distinguished Visiting Professor -- Chair Lecture, "Global Marks in Local Markets: Territoriality in EU and U.S. Trademark Law." Dinwoodie's visit was part of a new center initiative to bring distinguished international IP scholars to campus on a regular basis. Also in April, the center hosted the third Trademark Scholars' Roundtable, featuring more than a dozen leading trademark law professors who explored the topic of confusion in modern trademark law.

In March, Jon Leibowitz, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, addressed students and faculty on public sector lawyering, and also spoke on the issue of settlements in pharmaceutical patent litigation. In February, Dr. George Sledge of the Simon Cancer Center (IU School of Medicine) spoke to IP students on the intersection of intellectual property law and research in genetic diagnostics. That month, the center and the law school's Office of Career and Professional Development also hosted a mock interview and resume review event for IP law students. IP lawyers from the Indianapolis firms Barnes & Thornburg and Baker & Daniels served as the interviewers.

To better serve the growing IP law community at the IU Maurer School of Law, the center has established a new website at ip.law.indiana.edu. Information about the center's research, teaching, and outreach activities in all aspects of domestic and international intellectual property law can be found at the site. The center's online journal, IP Theory , can also be accessed through the site, or directly at iptheory.org.

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