What is Intellectual Property
Intellectual property gives intangible assets a tangible form in law. Intellectual property rights allow those who hold them control over their ideas and makes it illegal for others to use them without permission. This is the basis of intellectual property law, and it covers many different industry sectors.
Patents are used to protect inventions, whether they are a business method, computer program, an item of machinery or medical device. The patent system gives a monopoly right for a set period (20 years), allowing the owner to capitalise on their invention.
Trademarks are available in various forms, such as signs, logos, words , sounds or colors. Trademarks are what makes a business recognizable in a crowded marketplace, and therefore have a huge value, both to small businesses and large corporations.
Trade secrets relate to confidential information that can be protected. For example, the information needed to produce a secret drink recipe is protected by trade secret law. However, unlike other intellectual property laws, there is no procedure or formalities needed to start a trade secret.
Copyright protects creative works relating to art, music, literature, film or photography. Copyright can last for many decades into the future, giving the creator of the work the ability to profit from their creativity.
The Importance of Continuing Legal Education in Intellectual Property
The dynamic nature of intellectual property (IP) law requires that practitioners continually update their knowledge. The innovative and evolving landscape of different IP-based industries and the science and technology underlying many intellectual property issues is a strong contribution to the importance of a well-educated practitioner in these areas. In addition, the field remains highly disputed as it undergoes a substantial change from the highly deference-giving approach of ยง 101 patent validity determinations to a system where patent subject matter eligibility has become a highly contested issue in its own right.
Nevertheless, IP CLEs generally aim to satisfy a small portion of the total CLE credits mandated by state bar associations. Given the breadth of knowledge required to practice IP law, CLE credit spending often seems low compared to other specialty areas of law. Nonetheless, many experienced practitioners and newcomers alike have rehashed the sentiment that additional IP knowledge is always needed. This is a paradigm for how and why IP continuing legal education has become so important. It is simply paramount that a practitioner stay abreast of new developments in the field when so much is at risk.
Topics in Intellectual Property CLE
The foundation of any strong intellectual property program is staying current with recent legal developments. By design, intellectual property is constantly evolving, and keeping up-to-date on emerging issues helps practitioners and their clients secure the maximum value from their intellectual property assets. In addition to narrowly-focused workshops covering niche issues, intellectual property continuing legal education programs routinely cover basic topics in greater depth and breadth, including subjects such as patent law, trademark law, and copyright law. Many offerings give participants the opportunity to take an intellectual property "litigation boot camp," which provides a refresher on the stages of litigation (for example, from discovery through post-trial motions), but with a focus on subject-matter-specific questions, such as evidentiary standards for patent damages or copyright fair use issues. Emerging areas of interest also regularly feature in intellectual property continuing legal education. For instance, topics such as cybersecurity and antitrust concerns are increasingly popular areas of interest, alongside perennial choices such as intellectual property in the internet age and the artificial intelligence revolution.
Pitfalls and Prospects for Intellectual Property CLE
However, the path to this level of awareness is not a smooth one, given that the growing complexity of the legal issues associated with the field today is matched by an equally difficult problem: lack of continuing legal education (CLE) opportunities in these areas of expertise for the professionals who most need them. This makes it hard, for attorneys and litigators focused in these areas, to keep abreast of the shifting structure of these PLR fields. The result is that the growth in IP Law needs to be met with an influx of educational opportunities for IP professionals across organizations that need them. A broad public also needs to be taught about their PLR rights, and how they can undermine their own ability to claim those rights through common practices such as excessive social media use , the copying and sharing of third-party content without attribution or licensing, and so on.
There are solutions to these problems, both for those in-house attorneys and external counsel with a focus on IP Law, as well as those who wish to be informed participants in the growing body of law that governs the IP space, and society at large. One of the best means to accomplishing this goal is by attending CLE events on PLR topics that specifically address these areas of interest and concern. Fortunately, there are a wide variety of ways to do so, whether in person or online, with in-depth presentations on many topics (for those who wish to focus on specific topics), or a roster of options from which you may choose to maximize your learning experience in, or knowledge of, many areas, in one place.
How to Choose an IP CLE Program
When selecting an intellectual property CLE program, a few factors should be considered. The first is whether the course is accredited with the State Bar and is recognized for continuing education credit. Second, consider the content of the courses offered. Although most reputable IP education providers tailor their offerings for different levels of experience, not all IP CLE programs are appropriate for every level. If a program claims to offer advanced topics for practitioners that have been in the field for decades, but the roster of speakers includes many lawyers that recently passed the bar exam, then the content may not have been delivered by experienced practitioners and may not provide advanced or even current instruction. Look for programs whose staff includes not only licensed lawyers but also those who have experience in the fields being taught. For example, it may be more valuable to learn from a pharmaceutical executive and an FDA analyst about the requirements of patenting a new drug than from a lawyer whose experience is limited to filing one or two pharmaceutical patents over the course of their practices.
A major consideration when selecting IP CLE courses is not only the quality of the education but also the price. Many programs are available at little or no cost to practitioners. Others may be more expensive but offer premium content. Choose a program that meets your needs for instruction but is also within your client’s budget, or that your employer has approved for furthering legal education. Another consideration is the teaching methodology of the program provider. Does the organization maintain a lecture format, or are there opportunities for hands-on learning or other experiential techniques? Is the program offered on an online basis, in the form of distance education, or in a traditional classroom model? Interactive programs may be better suited to some practitioners rather than others, as some may prefer the graphic element of sitting face-to-face with their instructors, viewing slides and other visuals while others prefer the convenience and flexibility of online programming.
The Future of Intellectual Property Legal Education
Envisioning the future of intellectual property legal education means being prepared for change. The proliferation of digital technology is already fundamentally reshaping how lawyers gain and improve their core knowledge and skill sets. The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently proposed rules that would, if adopted, have a profound impact on agency procedures and, correspondingly, on the professional education needs of patent lawyers. Law school curricula are continually evolving in response to the changing environment in which law firms operate. The constant emergence and the increasing sophistication of new areas of civilization from social media to biotechnology to artificial intelligence require constantly rethinking what legal education should cover. Closely related to this is the accelerating rate at which new scientific and technical knowledge is being generated.
Virtual platforms for learning , such as webinars, can serve as an effective mechanism for quickly disseminating evolving knowledge and law. Supplementing these new technology-based platforms with face-to-face learning opportunities provides a balance that promotes communication, collaboration and creativity. At the same time, existing law firms need to equip their lawyers to succeed in these newly emerging environments and markets by helping to cultivate a stronger, more adept workforce that embraces change. Working to recruit younger lawyers and/or retrain existing professionals will be critical to meet the growing needs of your clients.
There is no end in sight to the changes the digital revolution will create and the corresponding implications for the laws. How lawyers approach continuing legal education will also need to continue to change and adapt.