Media Advisory: Jan. 22 UC Irvine Law Conference "Bend or Break - Tailoring the Patent System to Promote Innovation"

01-15-2010

WHAT: This one-day conference, presented by UC Irvine School of Law in coordination with the Federal Bar Association/Orange County Chapter, will consider technology and innovation policy related to the U.S. patent system. The patent system has been the subject of several recent critical appraisals. The conference will consider current legislative proposals for patent reform, the role of the Patent Office, the role of the court system, and substantive changes in patent law that address such critiques. Consideration of these topics will be structured around commentary and discussion of the recent book, The Patent Crisis and How the Courts Can Solve It (Prof. Dan Burk and Prof. Mark Lemley, University of Chicago Press, 2009).

WHO: Judge Randall Rader of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, who is slated to become the next chief judge of the Federal Circuit, will speak about the triumphs and failures of the U.S. patent system. Other presentations by nationally and internationally recognized scholars from law, business, and economics will consider historical, doctrinal, comparative, and empirical perspectives.

WHEN: Friday, Jan. 22, 2010, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., reception to follow.

WHERE: UC Irvine, Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering, 100 Academy, Irvine, CA 92617.

REGISTRATION: $200 general; $75 students and faculty. Eight hours of MCLE credit are available through UC Irvine Extension, an approved State Bar of California CLE provider. To register: law.uci.edu/bend_or_break.html

MEDIA CONTACT: Rex Bossert, assistant dean for communications and public affairs, rbossert@law.uci.edu, (949) 824-3063.

ABOUT UC IRVINE SCHOOL OF LAW

UC Irvine School of Law seeks to create the ideal law school for the 21st century by doing the best job of training lawyers for the practice of law at the highest levels of the profession. Recruited from prestigious schools, the founding faculty has been ranked in the top 10 in a recent study. The inaugural class of students has median grades and LSAT scores comparable to those of classes at top 20 law schools. The student-faculty ratio is currently about 3:1, by far the best in the country. The law school’s innovative curriculum stresses hands-on learning, interdisciplinary study and public service.