Sean O’Connor Joins George Mason University’s Scalia Law Faculty
O’Connor will lead the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property and expand innovation and entrepreneurship programs.
Professor Sean O’Connor, noted innovation law scholar, is joining George Mason University’s Scalia Law faculty as a tenured full professor and Executive Director of the Center for Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP). He will continue the renowned CPIP programming while also expanding it into innovation and entrepreneurship law more broadly. O’Connor will lead development of new clinics and the law school’s participation in university-wide multidisciplinary initiatives such as the proposed Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA).
“The time is right for George Mason and Northern Virginia to mature into the world class tech and innovation hub that is already emergent,” says O’Connor. Henry N. Butler, Dean of Scalia Law, embraces the move, “given CPIP’s impact on IP to date, our location, and the arrival of Amazon’s HQ2, the law school is perfectly situated to expand CPIP’s sphere of influence into innovation and entrepreneurship law.”
To read the rest of this announcement, please click here.
Spotlight on Scholarship
Here is some excellent, recently-published scholarship from the growing network of scholars participating in our various programs and events:
Ryan Abbott, Everything is Obvious, 66 UCLA L. Rev. 2 (2018)
Jonathan H. Ashtor, Does Patented Information Promote the Progress of Technology?, 113 Nw. U. L. Rev. 943 (2019)
Robert D. Atkinson, IP Protection in the Data Economy: Getting the Balance Right on 13 Critical Issues (forthcoming)
Shyamkrishna Balganesh, Censorial Copyright, 73 Vand. L. Rev. ___ (2020)
Jonathan M. Barnett, Antitrust Overreach: Undoing Cooperative Standardization in the Digital Economy (forthcoming)
Michael Greve, Exceptional, After All and After Oil States: Judicial Review and the Patent System (forthcoming)
Natasha Nayak, Barrier to Entry and Disruptive Innovation Potential in Big Data Markets: A Literature Review (forthcoming)
Sean O’Connor, The Multiple Levels of ‘Property’ in IP and Why That Matters for the Natural Versus Regulatory IP Debates, 27 Geo. Mason L. Rev. ___ (2019)
David Orozco, Assessing the Efficacy of the Bayh-Dole Act Through the Lens of University Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), 21 N.C. J.L. & Tech. ___ (2019)
To read these papers and others, please click here.
George Mason Law Review Publishes Papers from CPIP’s Fifth Annual Fall Conference
The papers from our Fifth Annual Fall Conference have been published by the George Mason Law Review. The papers can be found online at the Law Review’s website, or you can download them below:
Gary Lawson, Appointments and Illegal Adjudication: The America Invents Act Through a Constitutional Lens, 26 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 26 (2018)
Sandra M. Aistars, Ensuring Only Good Claims in Small Packages: A Response to Scholarly Concerns About a Proposed Small Copyright Claims Tribunal, 26 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 65 (2018)
Mark Schultz, Debra Waggoner, Roy Kamphausen, & Kevin Madigan, Using IP Best Practices Dialogues to Improve IP Systems Globally: The Example of the Trade Secrets Law Best Practices Dialogue, 26 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 88 (2018)
Ryan T. Holte, Clarity in Remedies for Patent Cases, 26 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 128 (2018)
Erika Lietzan, Paper Promises for Drug Innovation, 26 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 168 (2018)
Gregory Salmieri, Intellectual Property and the Freedom Needed to Solve the Crisis of Resistant Infections, 26 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 215 (2018)
To read the conference papers, please click here.
Smithsonian Panel Presentation on Software as Intellectual Property
On Wednesday, June 12, 2019, from 1:00 – 2:30 PM, CPIP and the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation will co-host a panel discussion at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., entitled Software as Intellectual Property. This event is free and open to the public, and there is no registration.
Panelists will discuss the history and development of software IP protections while considering the concerns of inventors, corporations, and consumers.
Speakers include:
Robert W. Bahr, Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, U.S. Patent and Trademark OfficeGerardo Con Diaz, Assistant Professor, Science and Technology Studies, University of California, Davis
Susann Keohane, Global Leader for Healthy Aging & Longevity, IBM Research
Moderator: Arthur Daemmrich, Director, Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
Closing Remarks: Sean O’Connor, Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
To visit our event website, please click here.
Recent CPIP Programs & Events
IP & Philosophy Research Colloquium. On May 2-3, 2019, CPIP held its fourth annual Philosophical Approaches to Intellectual Property colloquium at Antonin Scalia Law School in Arlington, Virginia. The colloquium brought together scholars conducting research at the intersection of IP and philosophy, featuring works-in-progress presentations as well as roundtable discussions.
Second 2019-2020 Edison Fellowship Meeting. On April 18-19, 2019, CPIP hosted the second meeting of the 2019-2020 Thomas Edison Innovation Fellowship in Scottsdale, Arizona. At the meeting, the Edison Fellows presented their research proposals and received valuable feedback from Senior Commentators and other Fellows.
Copyright Roundtable. On March 28-29, 2019, CPIP hosted an academic roundtable, Copyrightability and Developments in Technology and the Law, in New Orleans, Louisiana. This roundtable explored current “hot topics” in copyrightability, technology, and the law, investigating what has transpired in the courts as well as how these precedents might impact the rights of authors and interests of audiences as AI takes hold in various sectors.
To see more of our programs and events, please click here.
CPIP Scholars File Amicus Brief on Fixing Section 101
On April 22, 2019, CPIP scholars filed an amicus brief on behalf of seven patent law professors in Athena Diagnostics Inc. v. Mayo Collaborative Services LLC, a case currently before the Federal Circuit. The brief argues that the Federal Circuit should take the case en banc to correct the continued misapplication of the Mayo-Alice test, which has resulted in many breakthrough inventions and discoveries in the biopharmaceutical sector being struck down as patent-ineligible subject matter.
The brief concludes: “The majority’s analysis of patent eligibility doctrine contradicts Supreme Court decisions in famous and oft-cited cases in which the Court affirmed the patentability of cutting-edge inventions and discoveries. This Court has the decisional authority within the Supreme Court’s Mayo-Alice framework to reestablish reliable and effective patent rights in new and useful diagnostic methods made possible by the biotech revolution. Thus, this Court should grant the petition for rehearing en banc and reverse the panel decision.”
To read the amicus brief, please click here.
Recent CPIP Scholar Essays & Op-Eds
Sandra Aistars & Kevin Madigan, CASE Act Promises Long-Overdue Access to Justice for Individuals and Small Businesses in the Arts, IPWatchdog, May 9, 2019
Devlin Hartline, Twenty Years Later, DMCA More Broken Than Ever, CPIP Blog, April 24, 2019
Chris Katopis, Empirical Study Confirms Positive Relationship Among Patents, Technological Progress, and Societal Benefit, CPIP Blog, April 16, 2019
Erika Lietzan, Case To Watch: Eagle v. Azar’s Hidden Chevron-Step-1 Issue, Objective Intent, May 14, 2019
Kristen Osenga, Moving the (Over-Regulated) Music Industry into Modern Times, Federalist Society, April 24, 2019
Kristen Osenga, When the Patent System Works, Washington Times, April 25, 2019
Kristen Osenga, Over-Regulation is Killing Medical Innovation – But It’s Not the Agency You Think, Federalist Society, April 30, 2019
Ted Sichelman, Sichelman: A Defense And Explanation Of The U.S. News ‘Citation’ Ranking, TaxProf Blog, March 20, 2019
To read more essays and op-eds, please click here.
Recent CPIP Scholar News Mentions
Sandra Aistars, Friday’s Endnotes – 05/10/19, Copyhype, May 10, 2019
Jonathan Barnett, Why It’s Rarely Easy to Prove Joke Theft in the Legal World, Variety, March 19, 2019
Devlin Hartline, Fordham 27 (Report 3): DMCA – 20 Years Later, IPKat, April 25, 2019
Devlin Hartline, ASCAP Daily Brief for April 30, 2019, ASCAP, April 30, 2019
Chris Holman, Athena Diagnostics Amici Warn of Harms to Biotech Revolution under Current Alice/Mayo Framework, IPWatchdog, April 25, 2019
Erika Lietzan, Selling CBD in Food is Illegal, FDA Says. So Why Are So Many Retailers Selling It?, The Ledger, March 26, 2019
Erika Lietzan, Social Media Reacts to Study Claiming Skipping Breakfast Leads to Heart Death, DocWire, April 24, 2019
Erika Lietzan, Professor Lietzan Speaks About Top Cases in Food and Drug Law, University of Missouri School of Law News, May 9, 2019
Erika Lietzan, Professor Lietzan Presents Paper at Law and Biosciences Workshop, University of Missouri School of Law News, May 13, 2019
Kevin Madigan, Friday’s Endnotes – 05/10/19, Copyhype, May 10, 2019
Sean O’Connor, Sean O’Connor Joins George Mason University’s Scalia Law Faculty, Scalia Law News, May 14, 2019
Sean O’Connor, Transitions: New President at Iona College, U. of California at Los Angeles Selects Provost, The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 16, 2019
Kristen Osenga, Apple Pays for Its Patent Infringement, But Important Legal Cases Continue, IPWatchdog, March 19, 2019
Kristen Osenga, Athena Diagnostics Amici Warn of Harms to Biotech Revolution under Current Alice/Mayo Framework, IPWatchdog, April 25, 2019
Ted Sichelman, Athena Diagnostics Amici Warn of Harms to Biotech Revolution under Current Alice/Mayo Framework, IPWatchdog, April 25, 2019
To see more scholars in the news, please click here.
Recent CPIP Scholar Speaking Engagements
Jonathan Barnett, Panelist, LeadershIP 2019, The IP Policy Landscape: US and the World, March 26, 2019
Devlin Hartline, Speaker, U.S. Copyright Office Roundtable, Section 512 Study, April 8, 2019
Devlin Hartline, Speaker, 2019 Fordham IP Conference, Twenty Years Later, DMCA More Broken Than Ever, April 25, 2019
Chris Holman, Speaker, McGeorge Changing Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Conference, Drug Cost and Access, April 6, 2019
Erika Lietzan, Speaker, Mason Law & Economics Center Symposium, The Hatch-Waxman Act and Generic Drugs, April 14, 2019
Erika Lietzan, Speaker, Stanford Law and the Biosciences Workshop, Access Before Evidence and the Price of FDA’s New Drug Authorities, May 6, 2019
Sean O’Connor, Speaker, McGeorge Changing Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Conference, Drug Cost and Access, April 6, 2019
Sean O’Connor, Speaker, 2019 Fordham IP Conference, Can the Music Modernization Act’s Database Actually Solve the Music Licensing Problem?, April 26, 2019
Kristen Osenga, Speaker, 2nd Annual Intellectual Property Scholarship Redux Conference, Patent-Eligible Subject Matter, April 12, 2019
Kristen Osenga, Speaker, Federalist Society Video, Iancu v. Brunetti [SCOTUSbrief], April 12, 2019
Kristen Osenga, Panelist, Federalist Society Teleforum, The Songwriting Industry and Antitrust Consent Decrees, April 25, 2019
Kristen Osenga, Speaker, University of Richmond Synopsis, The Synopsis: Apple v. Pepper, 2019, May 17, 2019
To see more scholar speaking engagements, please click here.