IJPM symposium to examine intellectual property law, policy Oct. 26

IJPM symposium to examine intellectual property law, policy Oct. 26October 09, 2007Jaime Winne Alvarezjlwinne@syr.edu

A global surge of rights assertions has made intellectual property a pressing concern in policy debates and a regular item on the docket of the U.S. Supreme Court. To examine these issues, the Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics and the Media (IJPM) at Syracuse University will host a symposium, “Creators vs. Consumers: The Rhetoric, Reality and Reformation of Intellectual Property Law and Policy,” on Friday, Oct. 26.

The symposium runs from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. in the Public Events Room in Maxwell Hall. Proceedings will also be available via live webcast at http://jpm.syr.edu. New York state CLE credit is available. Registration for the symposium is required. Register online at http://jpm.syr.edu/conference_registration.cfm.

Tim Wu, professor of law at Columbia University, will deliver the lunchtime keynote address. Wu co-authored “Who Controls the Internet?” (Oxford University Press, 2006) and is a writer for Slate magazine. In 2006, he was recognized as one of 50 leaders in science and technology by Scientific American magazine for his work on network neutrality theory.

In addition to the keynote address, the conference will consist of four sessions, each devoted to a separate topic: trademarks, patents, copyrights and new frontiers of intellectual property (IP). Each session will feature the presentation of research by a scholar, followed by commentary. Participants include:

• K.J. Greene, associate professor of law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
• Hon. Frederick J. Scullin Jr., senior judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
• David C. Stimson, chief trademark counsel, Eastman Kodak Co.
• Frances Zollers, professor of law and public policy, Martin J. Whitman School of Management, SU
• Lisa A. Dolak L’88, associate director of IJPM, Board of Advisors Professor of Law and senior associate dean for academic affairs, College of Law, SU
• Charles M. Kinzig, vice president and director of corporate intellectual property, GlaxoSmithKline
• Roger Parloff, senior editor (legal affairs), Fortune
• Gina Lee-Glauser, director, the CASE Center, SU
• Tom Bell, professor of law, Chapman University School of Law
• Carlos Ovalle, copyright scholar, American Library Association, University of Texas
• Barry Slotnick, partner and chair, Intellectual Property and Entertainment Litigation Practice Group, Loeb & Loeb LLP
• Milton L. Mueller, professor, School of Information Studies, SU
• Susan Scafidi, associate professor of law, Dedman School of Law, Southern Methodist University
• Sharon Blinkoff, of counsel, Venable LLP
• Karen A. Lowney, senior staff attorney, Hunton & Williams
• Donald Carr, associate professor of industrial and interaction design, College of Visual and Performing Arts, SU

“This conference is unique, and not just because it looks at intellectual property through IJPM’s interdisciplinary lens,” says Dolak. “The central focus is on what scholars and practitioners can learn from each other, as they engage on the appropriate balance between the rights of IP owners and IP users.”

The symposium is co-sponsored by SU College of Law, Syracuse Law Review, the Sawyer Law and Politics Program, Nixon Peabody LLP, the CASE Center and SU’s Office of Technology Transfer and Industrial Development. Conference proceedings will be published in the 58th volume of Syracuse Law Review.

Launched in September 2006, IJPM is an academic institute devoted to the interdisciplinary study of issues at the intersection of law, politics and the media. A collaborative effort of SU’s College of Law, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the institute sponsors lectures, conferences and symposia designed to foster discussion and debate among legal scholars, sitting judges and working journalists.

For more information, visit http://jpm.syr.edu.