This course offers broad exposure to various legal issues confronted by mass media enterprises, ranging from traditional broadcasters and similar internet-based services, to the major internet platforms and the new class of ?media enterprises? that they spawned, such as YouTube influencers and TikTok stars. By examining current issues and events, students will navigate areas of law including defamation, rights of publicity and privacy, newsgathering and right of access, advertising, broadcast and internet regulation, intellectual property, and antitrust ? to understand how the law?s staple doctrines apply to the business of producing and distributing news, information, and entertainment for mass audiences.

In the life sciences industry, which encompasses pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals, patent protection and exclusivity rights are of critical importance. For industry innovators, patents and exclusivity rights are essential for companies and academic institutions to protect and recoup the very substantial research and development investments that are made to discover and develop new medicines and biologics that can treat and cure ailments, diseases, and other medical conditions. For generic drug and biosimilar manufacturers, challenging those patents?and the financial incentives to do so?allows them to manufacture and market affordable medicines with relatively small investments. The Federal Courts, U.S. Congress, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have created a body of case law, statutes, and regulations that are tailored to this industry. These laws and regulations provide both incentives to innovators to bring new products to market, and also incentives to those who seek to market generic equivalents or biosimilars of the products before the innovators? patent rights and exclusivities expire. This course will delve into many of the laws and regulations that should be understood by anyone who is interested in patent litigation, prosecution, or licensing in the life sciences industry.

This course is an overview of the fundamentals of university technology transfer as practiced in the USA. Topics include policy, statutes, case law, best practices in intellectual property management, patent strategy, licensing, valuation, equity and startups. Technology transfer office operations, including management, staffing, organization and marketing are covered. In addition, important representative agreements are reviewed including Non-Disclosure Agreements (?NDAs?) and Material Transfer Agreements (?MTAs?).

Students wishing to engage in academic work (such as authoring or co-authoring a paper under the supervision of a faculty member, working in a supervised law firm or in-house position, or some other project, the final work product to be received by the Registrar) may be eligible and able to work with a faculty member to oversee and guide the work, as well as to provide structure, milestones, and assessment of the work. Credits, grading, and prerequisites will depend on the nature of the work and determined in conjunction with the faculty member. Students seeking out independent study can obtain a form from the Registrar?s Office and seek out a faculty member?s agreement to supervise the independent study.