Intellectual Property

The Moritz College of Law prepares students interested in intellectual property, copyright, trademark, cybersecurity, and patent law by exposing them to both an academic foundation and hands-on training. The course offerings spread across several areas of intellectual property.

Moritz's Property course is a mandatory part of the first-year curriculum for all J.D. students. The course is a survey designed to explore the concept that "property" is not a thing, but rather "denotes legal relations between persons with respect to a thing." Upper-level intellectual property courses build on this premise.

Moritz' series of patent law courses provide a solid background for those students who wish to sit for the Patent Bar exam.

Moritz also offers multiple intellectual property courses focused on issues related to the Internet and technology and protecting both copyright and ownership of material as well as privacy.

I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society is a research and commentary journal focusing on the intersection of policy, information technology, and the law. The journal is a partnership between two leading institutions in their fields, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and Carnegie Mellon University's H.J. Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management. The I/S Journal, along with the Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies, promotes several workshops throughout the year. In recent years, the I/S Journal's symposia have focused on youth and social media, mash-up/remixes, the future of online journalism, cyber attacks, privacy and new media.

Professor Shane, a faculty editor of the I/S Journal, received a National Science Foundation grant for interdisciplinary study related to cyberspace and democracy. He also was executive director of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy.

The Intellectual Property Law Society exists for students with an interest in intellectual property or technology-related law. The organization strives to inform its members about the practice of IP law and current issues in the area by sponsoring speakers and improving relations with the local intellectual property law community.

Recently, IPLS and the Sports and Entertainment Law Association co- sponsored an event that featured a panel of lawyers who started their own practices focusing on areas of intellectual property and entertainment law.