Juris Doctor (JD) – The JD is a three-year full time program that incorporates practical learning and experiences. After taking the required first-year courses, students may elect to take more specialized courses in their second and third years focusing on IP. The JD program is a platform for students with an interest in IP to develop into attorneys with practical IP knowledge, expertise and the ability to represent clients before the USPTO and other IP proceedings.
Law, Science and Technology (LST) Certificate with a focus in Intellectual Property – JD students can supplement and enhance their degree with the LST Certificate with a focus in Intellectual Property through the Center for Law, Science and Innovation. The certificate program includes focused coursework, mentorship, and extracurricular educational opportunities that allows JD students to dive deeper into IP as a specialty. The certificate underscores a JD’s advanced understanding of IP and automatically communicates this to employers.
Master of Laws (LLM) in Intellectual Property – An LLM degree in Intellectual Property is an outstanding way for practicing attorneys to hone their skills and specialize in IP. The IP legal profession is incredibly dynamic, changing, and highly competitive. Building upon the foundation of a Juris Doctor degree with a Master of Laws is a powerful way that attorneys can update and focus their legal education through a robust IP specific curriculum enabling them to stand out from their competition. Also, an LLM degree in IP is a powerful path for foreign legal graduates to gain an education on American IP law to support their legal practice. Foreign attorneys who receive an LLM degree in IP can return to their home nations and serve as a powerful bridge for their clients and U.S. based law firms. ASU Law will begin offering an LLM in IP this Fall of 2021.
Master of Legal Studies (MLS: in-person and online) – An MLS degree with an emphasis in intellectual property is designed for those who do not wish to practice law, but who would benefit from having more knowledge in the IP field. Engineers, scientists, business professionals and more can dive into IP law courses as an MLS student and emerge with the skills to support fast paced careers in startups, corporations and beyond. Licensing professionals, patent agents, and paralegals are just a few of the careers to which an MLS with an emphasis in IP may lead.
- Advanced Topics in IP
- Biotech Licensing and Litigation
- Comprehensive Patent Practice
- Copyright Law
- Entertainment Business Contracts
- High Tech Licensing
- Innovation Advancement Legal Clinic
- Intellectual Property
- Intellectual Property in Cyberspace
- Lisa Foundation Patent Law Clinic
- Patent Appeals at the USPTO
- Patent Drafting
- Patent Law
- Patent Licensing and Enforcement
- Patent Litigation
- Patent Preparation and Prosecution
- Personal and Business Corporate Branding in Sports
- Prosecuting Trademark Applications
- Race and IP
- Real World IP Lawmaking
- Software IP Law and Agreements
- Trademark and Unfair Competition
- Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants
Lisa Foundation Patent Law Clinic
The Lisa Foundation Patent Law Clinic, directed by faculty member, Jon Kappes, is the first and oldest patent and trademark law clinic in the U.S. and the brainchild of prominent Chicago patent litigator Steven G. Lisa, a 1984 ASU Law alumnus. Generous funding from our donors established the clinic, where students gain hands-on experience in real-world patent and trademark prosecution, and learn skills needed to recognize and obtain valuable and enforceable patents and trademarks for clients whose IP may later be successfully licensed or litigated. In the process, students obtain limited recognition status to practice before the USPTO.
Lisa Foundation Advanced Patent Scholarship
ASU Law, in partnership with the Lisa Foundation, offers scholarships awarded on a competitive basis to students to research advanced patent law matters. The selected scholars gain direct training from Steve Lisa, a leading patent litigation and licensing attorney, in conducting a patent appeal to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board. In addition to the opportunity, recipients also receive a scholarship reward from the Lisa Foundation.
Innovation Advancement Clinic
The Innovation Advancement Clinic, directed by faculty member, Raeesabbas Mohamed, is an innovative program that pairs inventors, technology entrepreneurs, tech transfer professionals, and emerging technology companies with some of ASU Law’s brightest students. Teams of two to three law students undertake a wide array of legal services that help early-stage ventures solidify their legal foundations, avoiding many of the mistakes and pitfalls often made when moving technology into the marketplace. Teams are guided throughout the semester by Director Raees Mohamed, an attorney with RM Warner Law.
Journals
The Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law supports Jurimetrics, The Journal of Law, Science, and Technology which emphasizes Intellectual Property Law. Jurimetrics is the official journal of the American Bar Association’s Section of Official Journal of Science & Technology Law. It is the oldest such journal in the country and one of a small number of student-edited, peer-reviewed law journals. It regularly publishes articles on topics relating to innovation, patent law and policy, and sustainability and technology.
ASU Law also supports the student led Sports and Entertainment Law Journal. As one of the leading sports and entertainment law journals in the United States, the Journal infuses legal scholarship and practice with new ideas to address today’s most complex sports and entertainment legal challenges. Among such challenges often arise issues relating to branding, creative ownership, and enforcement of copyright and trademark rights. Students may engage with the Journal further by becoming part of its executive board in their third year.
Center for Law, Science and Innovation
ASU Law is home to the nationally acclaimed Center for Law, Science and Innovation (LSI), which focuses on the extraordinary legal and regulatory questions rising from rapid developments in science and technology. LSI’s mission is to use law to enable innovation for the betterment of society. By facilitating interdisciplinary efforts among students, faculty, professionals, and policymakers, the center tackles the shared challenges in the governance of new and emerging technologies, such as autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, gene editing, and many others.
Intellectual Property Student Association
The Intellectual Property Student Association (IPSA) is one of the largest and most active ASU Law student groups, providing speaker series, networking opportunities, and academic support to members throughout the year.
Law and Science Student Association
The Law and Science Student Association (LASSA) expands student opportunities, focusing on the ethical, legal, and social issues of cutting-edge science and emerging technologies.
Moot Court
ASU Law has fielded numerous IP Moot Court Teams including two trademark moot court teams in the International Trademark Association’s 2019 Saul Lefkowitz Memorial Moot Court Competition winning numerous awards.
Intellectual property is an organization’s most valuable asset. New developments in science and technology have created the need for lawyers with specialized backgrounds in these areas to help protect the intellectual capital of businesses. ASU Law is striving to be at the forefront of meeting the demand for lawyers trained in intellectual property.
Interview Programs
Students have access to the top-rated law firms in Arizona and nationally through our on-campus interview program. The IP Law Program will prepare students to network and interview at the annual Loyola Patent Law Fair in Chicago.
Employment
Current ASU Law students are doing real IP work in externships, and our graduates are securing post-graduate IP positions at large firms, boutique firms and corporations. Employers like Kirkland & Ellis, Intel, On Semiconductor, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and other AMLAW 200 ranked law firms hire our graduates.
Clerkships
ASU Intellectual Property Law students successfully compete and obtain post-graduation clerkship opportunities in the country’s most influential patent courts including U.S. district courts in multiple states, the Federal Circuit, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).
ASU Law selects inaugural Law Science and Innovation/Intellectual Property Program Prize Contest winners
Graves and Katyal win for their article ‘From Trade Secrecy to Seclusion’
Providing an insightful and alarming analysis on the evolving use of trade secrecy laws to conceal vital information from the public, Charles Graves and Sonia Katyal have been selected as the 2022 Law Science and Innovation/Intellectual Property Program Prize Contest recipients by the Center for Law Science and Innovation (LSI) and the Intellectual Property (IP) Law program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.
The Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law is sponsoring a Distinguished Lecturer Reception with a plenary presentation by the co-authors on their prize-winning article at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. on December 8, 2022. The featured speaker of the event is The McCarthy Laureate, The Honorable Kent A. Jordan from the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
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Barrow Neurological Institute
Barrow is the world's largest neurological disease treatment and research institution, and is consistently ranked as one of the best neurosurgical training centers in the United States. Through the Lisa Foundation Patent Law Clinic, ASU Law students get to work directly with Barrow neurosurgeons supporting their medical innovation.
Skysong Innovation
Skysong Innovation is ASU’s entrepreneurial technology transfer team responsible for generating over 845 patents since 2003, launching 150 startup companies and attracting more than $833 million in revenue. ASU licenses its faculty developed patents and technology commercially through Skysong and is ranked 12th overall for university-issued patents. ASU Law students can work directly with Skysong’s professionals and ASU researchers on patents through internships and externships.
International Patent Remedies for Complex Products (INPRECOMP) Project
In one of ASU Law’s most ambitious IP law projects, the Center for Law, Science, and Technology recently published a book entitled, “Patent Remedies and Complex Products: Toward a Global Consensus.” This edited volume is the product of several years’ work by around 30 contributing intellectual property scholars from ten different countries and was made possible by a gift from Intel Corporation. ASU Law students were able to participate in multiple stages of this project, providing them with an unmatched experience in international IP law scholarship.
IP and Genomics Workshop
For nearly 10 years, the Center for Law, Science and Innovation has organized an annual workshop exploring legal and regulatory issues surrounding personalized medicine and molecular diagnostics. As IP-related issues have grown increasingly important in personalized medicine, the center decided to hold additional workshops to focus particularly on IP issues. One such recent event was our Workshop on Patents and Data Sharing/Access for Molecular Diagnostics. The purpose of the workshop was to explore the challenges in securing intellectual property protections and data sharing for molecular diagnostics. The workshop brought together leading experts in academia, private practice, government, and industry to make progress toward resolving some of the legal and policy barriers to improved healthcare through genomic medical technologies.
