Intellectual Property, Technology & Telecommunications
Keeping Pace with Emerging New Knowledge

Center for Intellectual Property, Technology & Telecommunications Law

In 1987, California Western received a generous grant from the Al Simon Foundation to support scholarships and conferences in telecommunications. During the 1990s, the focus was expanded to include intellectual property. The Center was founded to study the large and growing number of unresolved issues of law and policy that have risen as a result of the technological revolution in the telecommunications industry. Since that time, the Center has adapted to meet the technological, international, and other factors shaping the fields of telecommunications, intellectual property, engineering, and the life sciences.

The Center prepares students for the cutting edge of entrepreneurship, transactional law, transborder licensing, intellectual property, informational technology, biofuels, and telecommunications. In addition, the Center partners with government agencies like NASA and the U.S. Department of Commerce, and organizations such as CONNECT and the World Trade Center of San Diego, to provide students with practical experience in law, policy, and business.

In the 2010, the Center launched "Create a Job Now Initiative" in conjunction with the Business Law Society to stimulate entrepreneurship and job creation through transborder licensing. The Center partners with one or more student organizations to sponsor an annual conference where students present white papers to leading experts. The initiative continues to expand internship and career service opportunities through alumni engagement and uses technology to develop collaborative pilot programs with foreign educational institutions.

Intellectual Property, Technology and Telecommunications Program

As technology changes the face of the global economy, laws and copyright protections must change to reflect the frequent emergence of new products and discoveries. Those wishing to practice intellectual property, technology and telecommunications law increasingly find themselves working in nontraditional jobs where they are required to use their legal training, but are not practicing law in the traditional sense.

California Western School of Law is in a unique position to respond to developments in legal and employment sectors. The Intellectual PropertyTechnology/Telecommunications program provides a solid foundation in the core areas of Intellectual Property, Administrative Law, Creative Problem Solving, and Telecommunications Law.

Students electing to pursue this area of concentration are required to participate in both pro bono work and an internship supervised by the concentration's faculty advisor. Two scholarly papers and participation in a student or professional organization in a specialty area are also required.

Courses Include:

• Administrative & Legislative Law
• Administrative Law
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Antitrust, Business Planning
• Biotechnology Seminar
• Business Planning
• Copyright Law
• Cyberspace Law
• Entertainment Law
• First Amendment Seminar
• Franchise Law
• International Business Transactions
• Licensing
• Negotiation
• Patent Law
• Problem Solving Skills & Theory
• Social Media
• Sports Law
• Telecommunications Law
• Trademark Law

Building Successful Careers
Students gain practical experience through special projects. Previous student projects include creating a searchable website on hot topics in information technology, partnering with agencies including the City of San Diego and the U.S. Department of Commerce to conduct research and draft white papers on regulatory structure and job creation, and designing code for web-based authoring platforms to develop online curriculum.

Alumni pursuing careers in IP, technology, and telecommunications work at law firms and technology companies locally and around the globe. They put their knowledge of policy and ethical issues into practice as they represent clients, protect intellectual capital, and contribute to the development of new knowledge.

Examples of careers in relevant fields include:
Property Attorney - Fallbrook Technologies, Inc.
Director of Intellectual Property - Stem CentRx
Intellectual Property Attorney - Isis Pharmaceuticals
Intellectual Property Attorney - Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP
Intellectual Property Attorney - Lee, Hong, Degerman, Kang & Waimey
Associate Patent Counsel - Qualcomm
Associate, Patent Litigation Group - DLA Piper, LLP
Intellectual Property Attorney - Higgs Fletcher & Mack
Intellectual Property Attorney - Abbott Medical Optics Inc.

Experienced and Talented Faculty
Courses in the IP, Technology & Telecommunications program are taught by leading scholars across a broad array of disciplines – including business law, biotechnology, cyberspace law, administrative law, and alternative dispute resolution – as well as working professionals who bring real-world experience into the classroom.

Robert A. Bohrer
Professor of Law
LL.M. Harvard University
J.D. University of Illinois
B.A. Haverford College

Arthur W. Campbell
Professor of Law
LL.M. Georgetown University
J.D. West Virginia University
A.B. Harvard University

Scott B. Ehrlich
Professor of Law
LL.M. Harvard University
J.D. New York University
B.A. State University of New York at Stony Brook

Andrea L. Johnson
Director of the Intellectual Property, Technology, & Telecommunications Program
Professor of Law
J.D. Harvard University
B.A. Howard University

Nancy S. Kim
Professor of Law
LL.M. University of California, Los Angeles
J.D. University of California, Berkeley
A.B. University of California, Berkeley

Adjunct Professors:
E. Clevenger, Trademark Law
Jayshree A. Gerken ‘02, Patent Law
Art Neill, Social Media and the Law
Jeffrey S. Robin, Entertainment Law
Robert F. Teaff, Sports Law
Nancy L. Vaughan ‘75, Bioethics Seminar