Licensing of Intellectual Property

Adv. David Mirchin

Credits: 2

This is an advanced licensing class for students who already have a solid foundation in intellectual property law and contract law. The focus will be practical rather than theoretical, and the course will address real-world business and legal scenarios faced by technology companies.

The purpose of the course is to familiarize students with a wide range of licensing issues and ways to address divergent interests. We will cover in-depth licensing of software, content and inventions. We will review the purpose of various key terms in licensing agreements, the interests of each party, and a variety of fallback and alternative solutions which could serve your client and "make the deal happen." The course will address some specific legal issues related to licensing, such as the enforceability of clickwrap agreements, and website terms of use never agreed to by users, the impact of bankruptcy upon a license, and licensing of open source software.

Students will also learn about various forms of agreement related to intellectual property licenses, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) agreements and software escrow agreements.

Grade Components: 100% Take Home Exam