Washington University School of Law to launch master's degree program

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Apr 3, 2001 by Kathleen T. Brady

The American Bar Association recently granted Washington University School of Law permission to launch a new master's degree law program in intellectual property. The program is designed to provide national and international law school graduates with specialized, advanced study and practical skills training in intellectual property law.

An LL.M. in intellectual property law from Washington University will not only help the savvy IP specialist to proudly display newly minted knowledge with cutting-edge issues but also will help the general lawyer better advise clients about the latest trends impacting the most significant portion of the asset base for most clients, said patent law expert F. Scott Kieff, visiting assistant professor at Northwestern University School of Law and co-author of the casebook and treatise Principles of Patent Law, in a statement. Kieff will join the university law school faculty this fall to teach in the master's degree program.

The intellectual property and technology law master's degree program was a specific proposal within the law school's plan of gradually expanding the IP course work offered to students. It includes the study of related technologies, such as biotechnology and cyberspace. The program was adopted two years ago at a time when Napster copyright issues, conflicts over Internet domain names and battles with genetically modified crops illustrated a growing need for the IP law.

The explosion of new technologies driving the U.S. and global economies - combined with a dramatic rise in the importance of intellectual property - presents significant new challenges to the legal profession, said Charles R. McManis, professor of law and director of the new LL.M. program, in a statement. Today's easy dissemination of information globally also underlines the need to increase intellectual property protections and to address such complex issues across different legal cultures.

Businesses, such as Monsanto/Pharmacia and the Missouri Botanical Garden, are increasingly dealing with intellectual property issues, demonstrating the substantial need for lawyers trained in this area, McManis said in the statement.

Beginning in the fall of 2001, the new LL.M. program will offer introductory courses and advanced seminars in intellectual property law as well as in a wide range of related topics, including antitrust, international investment law, entertainment law, sports law, bioethics and legal issues regarding the human genome project.

The program's 26-member advisory board is made up of attorneys at the World Intellectual Property Organization, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and attorneys practicing IP law at leading law firms and businesses.

The master's degree in intellectual property law is a 24-credit course. Students may earn up to six credit hours from related courses in addition to law, and course credits are available to undergraduates. The full-time tuition price for the program is estimated at $27,000.

Along with the inauguration of the law school's new master's degree program, this weekend the law school will hold an IP conference at the university titled, 2001 Heart of American Intellectual Property Law Conference: Intellectual Property, Digital Technology and Electronic Commerce.

The conference will run from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, April 6, and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, April 7, in the law school's Anheuser-Busch Hall, near the intersection of Forsyth Boulevard and Olympian Way. Come early to register.

The conference will feature keynote speakers from the federal copyright, patent and trademark offices, panel discussion and presentations by business leaders, practicing attorneys and leading academics in the intellectual property field. Topics range from legal issues in the world of smart goods to the protection of genetic knowledge in the new field of bioformatics (the convergence of biotechnology and digital technology) to the controversial anti- device provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Other topics include the effectiveness of a new commercial contract law for cyberspace, deciphering trade usages in software packages and the latest development in business-method patents.

The April conference is eligible for 9.6 Missouri Continuing Legal Education credit hours; it meets CLE credits in all states, although hours may vary. Tuition is $260 and $20 for students. Tuition includes the course handbook, lunch and receptions. For more information, call the law school at 314-935-7244 or 314-935-6448 or the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis at 314-421-4134, or visit the law school's Web site at http://ls.wustl.edu.