What We Study
The Intellectual Property Law Program is Maryland Carey Law’s home for the study of innovation and creativity. Students and faculty in the IP Program explore exciting questions about emerging legal issues, while working together to educate the community and assist entrepreneurs in protecting the products of the human imagination.
Intellectual property was considered so important that our Founding Fathers saw fit to include it in the Constitution. The Patent and Copyright Clause gives Congress the power “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8. Today’s lawyers carry this historical mission forward into new technologies, new media and new marketing strategies.
At Maryland Carey Law, the Intellectual Property Law Program covers the traditional topics: patents, which give inventors exclusive rights in their new compounds, machines, manufactures, and other innovations; copyrights, which protect authors and artists against unauthorized copying of their personal expressions; trademarks, which distinguish the brands and logos consumers rely on as signals of product quality; and trade secrets, which protect confidential business information. Other closely related fields include the false advertising laws protecting consumers and competitors, rights of publicity in celebrity personas, and licensing of IP rights.
The IP Program works closely with the Business Law Program on issues involving entrepreneurship and protecting the intellectual assets of startup companies.
The IP Program also serves as the nexus at Maryland Carey Law for the study of information and technology law. One particular focus is Internet law: concepts of privacy and free speech are being radically recast on a network where words can spread worldwide in a matter of milliseconds. Another is healthcare and technology: the IP Law Program collaborates with Maryland Carey Law’s leading Law and Health Care Program on issues such as patient privacy and Big Data approaches to medical research and healthcare management.
