The Forum will be held at the law school on Friday, October 25, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Its purpose is to bring together a small group of prominent scholars for intensive, high-level discussions on cutting-edge issues of common interest.

This year’s field of discussion will be “Food and Intellectual Property.” Professor Jay Dratler, Jr., although retired, will return again to moderate the Forum.

We expect the discussion to be broad, as was the case last year in the field of IP and public health. Possible topics in this year’s broad field of discussion include: the patentability of food, the effects of patents on hunger and human rights, the exhaustion of self-replicating technologies under the Supreme Court’s decision in Monsanto v. Bowman, conflict between IP and culinary cultures, and alternatives to IP for promoting and protecting innovation in food. Less politically freighted topics include: copyright protection for recipes, copyright and trade dress protection for food presentation (such as the “foaming” techniques now in vogue in upscale restaurants), geographic indications for food and wine, and flavors as trademarks.

As usual, the only admission price is a short paper (10-15 pages, with minimal footnotes) on some Forum topic. If you attend, you should distribute your paper by e-mail about a month prior to the Forum. Papers will not be formally presented at the Forum. Instead, we will engage in free-flowing discussion based on the Forum topic and the papers submitted. For those who would like to do so, we will arrange for papers to be published in symposium format in our Akron IP Journal.

Last year’s white paper on IP and public health, in which Prof. Vacca summarized the Forum discussion, turned out to be a success. So we will produce another white paper this year. We will publish a summary of our discussion, both online and in print, in the Akron IP Journal.

We are unable to pay travel expenses. However, we will provide a reception and dinner on the evening before the Forum and a light breakfast and lunch on the day of the Forum.

If you wish, we can arrange recreational activities in the area, with such attractions as the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the Cleveland Orchestra, or the Football or Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Although Northeast Ohio never provides a guarantee, we often have crisp, clear and bracing fall weather at that time of year.

Attendance will be limited to permit intimate discussion, so please respond soon. You may RSVP to Shannon Aupperle, at sfauppe@uakron.edu.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey M. Samuels
David L. Brennan Professor of Law
and Director, Center of Intellectual
Property Law and Technology

Jay Dratler, Jr.
Goodyear Professor Intellectual Property, Emeritus

Katharine Van Tassel
Professor of Law

A. Samuel Oddi
Giles Sutherland Rich Professor
in Intellectual Property

Ryan Vacca
Associate Professor of Law

Robert C. Kahrl
Distinguished Practitioner-in-Residence

http://www.law.berkeley.edu/plsc.htm

We are now accepting proposals for papers and presentations on subjects related to the ways technology affects the delivery and consumption of content in the various arts, and the way IP law impacts these methods. Examples include the music industry’s method of disseminating content through online streaming and digital downloads; projects like the Google Art Project, which digitizes paintings and other works of art in high resolution for online viewing; and the rights and responses of publishers and consumers in a post-Kirtsaeng world.

To be considered for publication, please send an abstract of no more than 750 words to symposium.submissions@texaswesleyanlawreview.org by June 21, 2013, along with a current CV. Papers will be selected on a rolling basis, so early submission is recommended. A limited number of presentation submissions without publication will be considered, but strong preference is given to presenters who submit a paper. Any questions may be sent to the Symposium Editor, Matt Fronda, at symposium.editor@texaswesleyanlawreview.org.

*Texas Wesleyan University and Texas A&M University have each announced their intention to enter into a long-term relationship that would include the acquisition by Texas A&M University of the Texas Wesleyan School of Law. The contemplated relationship and the acquisition of the law school by Texas A&M University remain subject to certain conditions and approvals including the negotiation, execution, and performance of mutually agreeable definitive agreements.

The program committee of the inaugural Drones & Aerial Robotics Conference (DARC) is now inviting proposals from individuals across a broad spectrum of expertise. DARC will convene a wide range of stakeholders to explore civilian drones and their impact on society. The conference is presented by the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy at NYU School of Law and will be held October 11-13, 2013. We invite contributions from all interested disciplines on or before May 27, 2013.

ABOUT DARC

What do hobbyists, journalists, university researchers, soldiers, and police all have in common? They’re all testing or using aerial robotics, commonly called “drones.”

Imagine a near future in which networks of autonomous robots roam the skies, performing everything from law enforcement, to communications, to crop dusting, shipping and logistics. Sound implausible? It might be. But that’s the future that the aerospace industry, the FAA, and a new class of entrepreneurs are busy preparing. And this future is closer to reality than many realize. Drones force a broad reconsideration of the laws and regulatory frameworks that protect vital interests like civil liberties, due process, privacy, innovation, and security. But they also herald new innovations and new public interest applications.

These technologies are powered by some of the same phenomena that propel the mobile industry—Moore’s law, economies of scale, and ever more sophisticated software built by large companies or open source hackers. Anyone can buy a toy drone at the mall for $299, assemble a relatively capable DIY drone for $1000, or buy a sophisticated $50,000 aircraft for amateur photogrammetry.

As the FAA scrambles to meet its 2015 integration deadline—which will open domestic airspace to hobby aircraft as well as the types of aircraft that currently fly over Afghanistan—DARC provides a forum for entrepreneurs, policy makers, and civil libertarians to constructively engage. Join us this Fall to explore this fascinating, emergent space.
PROPOSALS

There are few technologies that stimulate such deep and wide-ranging questions about law, technology, and international relations. We welcome all proposals, but please stay substantive and constructive. This list is not exhaustive, but we invite proposals along the following lines:

Anecdotal talks
Popular research
Demos or tutorials
Scholarly research
Constructive discussions
Proposals should address — but are not limited to — our five main areas of interest:
General Interest & Zeitgeist
Makers & Entrepreneurs
Law & Regulation
Privacy & Surveillance
Security
Proposals can be submitted via the conference website at https://droneconference.org/proposals. Proposals will be accepted until May 27, 2013. Questions may be sent to contact@droneconference.org

Agenda

The Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth presents the Sixth Annual Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The conference will be held at the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, IL. The conference will run from approximately 9:00 A.M. on Thursday, June 6, 2013 to 3:00 P.M. on Friday, June 7, 2013.

The goal of this conference is to provide a forum where economists and legal scholars can gather together with Northwestern’s own distinguished faculty to present and discuss high-quality research relevant to intellectual property (IP) protection, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation are jointly sponsoring the conference.

Registration

There is no registration fee to attend this conference due to our sponsor’s support. Attendance for this conference is by invitation only. To receive an invitation, please send a message with your name, affiliation, and full contact information to Derek Gundersen at: d-gundersen@law.northwestern.edu.

The Frontiers of IP

Telecom ParisTech, Paris, France
September 5-6, 2013

CALL FOR PAPERS

Telecom ParisTech will host the 8th annual conference of The EPIP (European Policy for Intellectual Property) association in Paris, Sept. 5-6, 2013. Scholars and practitioners interested in the economic, legal, political and managerial aspects of intellectual property rights are encouraged to attend the conference with or without scientific paper presentation.

The conference will explore how Intellectual Property (IP) is related to the scientific and technological frontiers, to geographical frontiers as well as to competition policy or to contract law.

Topics of interest include:

Patentability subject matter, non-obviousness
Allocation of rights in patent pools
Standards and pools
Open innovation
International technology transfer, international issues in IP protection
Copyright in the digital era
IP and competition policy
IP and other incentives to innovate
Markets for patents
IP and contract law
IP licensing
Substitutability/complementarity between patents and trademarks
IP and science
University technology transfer, public-private partnerships

An international master class will be organized the day before the conference, on Wednesday Sept. 4, with lectures by Pierre Larouche (Tilburg University) and Dietmar Harhoff (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München). The master class is a place of discussion between lawyers and economists. It is open to PhD students and people from the industry or public institutions interested in the multi-disciplinary dimensions of IP.

The conference dinner will take place on Thursday September 5 at 58 Tour Eiffel, on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower.

Articles can be submitted at http://www.telecom-paristech.fr/epip2013/

We will review extended abstracts but prefer full-length articles.

Deadline for submissions: June 3, 2013
Notification of acceptance: June 24, 2013

Selected articles will be published in the Proceedings of the conference.

Please send an email to epip2013@telecom-paristech.fr for further details and information.

Related event: “Academic Patenting in Europe” Conference, September 3-4

On September 3-4, Telecom ParisTech will host the final conference of APE-INV, the Research Networking Programme on Academic Patenting in Europe supported by the European Science Foundation, in collaboration with OST (Observatoire des sciences et des techniques, Paris). Attendance is free for all registered participants to the EPIP conference. For further details, including programme and contacts, visit the APE-INV website.

Conference organizer:
Patrick Waelbroeck (Telecom ParisTech, France)

Local organizers:
Christine Halmenschlager (Université Paris 2, Panthéon-Assas, France)
Yann Ménière (Mines ParisTech, France)

Friday and Saturday, October 4–5, 2013

The JSIP Workshop offers a unique opportunity for junior scholars* writing in the areas of intellectual property, communications, and cyberlaw to receive detailed commentary on their work from established scholars in a focused workshop setting. Articles will be chosen through a blind-review selection process. Participants are expected to attend the entire Workshop.

*Eligible junior scholars have seven or fewer years of full-time teaching experience.

Submit papers online at http://www.law.msu.edu/ipic/workshop/

Deadline: July 31, 2013.

The interwoven Open A.I.R. Conference and Global Congress events are designed to offer delegates distinct but complementary experiences. The first part of the week will expose participants to insights on IP and innovation in Africa, generated by the Open African Innovation Research and Training (Open A.I.R.) Project. There will also be a launch of a book, The Collaborative Dynamics of Innovation and Intellectual Property in Africa, and a compendium of forward-looking research, Future Scenarios for African Innovation. By discussing existing patterns among collaborative IP policies and practices in Africa, and the signals of emerging scenarios for the future, delegates will challenge assumptions and confront changes. At the same time, participants will engage with Africa’s largest IP research and advocacy community, and join the global network of experts who share the common goal of promoting the public interest in IP policy and practice.

The second half of the week will contextualise African approaches within the larger paradigms of global public interest IP, and build momentum towards sustainable, coordinated engagement with these crucial issues. After the successful 1st Global Congress in Washington, DC in 2011 and 2nd Global Congress in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, the Global Congress on IP and the Public Interest is coming to Africa in 2013, providing an ideal complement to the Open A.I.R. Conference. The theme of this year’s Congress is “Global Problems: Local Solutions?”, which will explore how public interests converge or diverge in different places around the world.

The University of Cape Town (UCT) Faculty of Law’s IP Unit will serve as host of both the Open A.I.R. Conference and the 3rd Global Congress. Partners include the Access to Knowledge for Development Center (A2K4D) at The American University in Cairo, the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) in Lagos, the Centre for IP and IT Law (CIPIT) at Strathmore University in Nairobi, the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa and the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property at American University.

Funding is provided by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the Open Society Foundations.

June 17-20, 2013
Roger Williams University School of Law
Bristol, Rhode Island

From June 17-20, Roger Williams University will host an Institute in beautiful Bristol, Rhode Island on the legal and policy landscape of cyber risks, foreign and domestic. Cyber security has recently taken center stage for government, business, and the professions. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned last fall about the prospect of a “cyber Pearl Harbor.” A cyber security firm recently traced back to a Chinese government agency a wave of cyber intrusions that harvested information about U.S. critical infrastructure. Cyber crime has also proliferated, through burgeoning efforts to steal trade secrets, undermine privacy and confidentiality in health care and legal data, and defraud unknowing consumers through trafficking in misappropriate passwords. While cyber security is increasingly important, only a few experts and practitioners have a working knowledge of how it interacts with law, policy, and regulation. Cyber Threats and Cyber Realities fills that gap.

Cyber Threats and Cyber Realities, jointly sponsored by the Roger Williams University School of Law and School of Justice Studies, will be an interactive forum with nationally known experts and practitioners on cyber law, policy, and regulation. Organized in two two-day modules, attendees will learn about domestic law and policy on June 17-18, and international law and national security on June 19-20. In addition to informative panels, each module will include as a capstone experience a simulation that offers participants an opportunity to collaborate in resolving a regulatory challenge or national security crisis.

For lawyers, other professionals, and students not seeking academic credit: $150/day, $275/two-day module, $475 for all four days.

More information and registration: http://www.rwu.edu/academics/conferences/cyber-threats-realities

Contact: Events Office at lawevents@rwu.edu or call (401)254-4659.

********************************************************
Fourth Internet Law Work-in-Progress Symposium
March 8, 2014, New York Law School
********************************************************

The Institute for Information Law and Policy at New York Law School and the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law are pleased to announce the fourth annual work-in-progress symposium for internet law scholarship on Saturday March 8, 2014 at New York Law School in Tribeca.

We will send out full details as the date gets closer.

OVERVIEW
———————
The work-in-progress event was created for internet law scholars to receive feedback about their papers and projects from their academic peers. Last year over 40 leading internet law academics convened at Santa Clara Law to participate in the third event. The organizers take a broad view of what constitutes “internet law” scholarship, and this year will be no different. We welcome all types of scholarly approaches (doctrinal, theoretical, empirical, etc.) and offer three ways to participate in the event:

1. Papers-in-Progress Presentation:
This track is for paper drafts sufficiently advanced to share with event attendees. We provide extra speaking time to these presentations. If we have to prioritize presentation requests based on capacity constraints, we give greater priority to papers earlier in the drafting process that will most benefit from peer feedback, i.e., (a) papers that have not been circulated to publication venues will get higher priority than (b) papers that have been circulated to publication venues but do not yet have a publication commitment, which will get higher priority than (c) papers that have been accepted for publication.

2. Projects-in-Progress Presentation:
This track is for research projects without a paper draft for attendees to review in advance. This might occur because your paper draft isn’t ready to share or because you would like to explore a paper idea before writing a draft. We allocate less speaking time for these presentations than for papers-in-progress presentations.

3. Discussant:
Space permitting, we welcome other scholars to join the conversation as active audience participants.

There is no event participation fee, but all participants are responsible for their own travel expenses. There are no publication obligations associated with presenting at the event. And yes, there will be Powerpoint Karaoke and a games night.