Degree Offerings & Courses

APPROXIMATELY 25 COURSES RELATING TO IPIL ARE OFFERED REGULARLY at the UH Law Center. All of these courses answer the degree requirements for the Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) degree and most apply to the Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree.

J.D. PROGRAM

The UH Law Center offers both full-time and part-time programs leading to the J.D. degree. J.D. candidates must complete 90 semester hours and can customize their curricula with intellectual property and information law courses that reflect their individual interests and concerns. Students interested in applying to the J.D. program should contact the Office of Admissions for an application at 713.743.2280 or lawadmissions@uh.edu. Applications also can be downloaded at www.law.uh.edu.

LL.M. PROGRAM

The LL.M. Program provides an academic environment for practicing lawyers who wish to expand their knowledge of intellectual property and information law.  Only a limited number of candidates are accepted for full-time or part-time studies, and admissions are highly competitive. Applicants from the United States must hold the J.D. degree or equivalent from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association and must possess promising research or practice credentials. Lawyers who hold law degrees from foreign countries must meet academic and English language standards for admission.

LL.M. candidates must complete 24 semester hours of approved courses with a cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.5. A thesis is optional, upon approval by an instructor. Class scheduling and availability vary from year to year. Most IPIL courses are offered in the fall and spring semesters. Generally, IPIL courses are not available in the summer. Full-time students with subject matter flexibility occasionally complete the program in as little as a full academic year (fall, spring, and summer semesters). Both full-time and part-time degree candidates are allowed a maximum of three years for in-classroom work and completion of the thesis. Thesis supervision occurs during the fall and spring semesters only. For details about the LL.M. program, contact the LL.M. Coordinator at 713.743.2080 or llm@uh.edu.

VISITING STUDENTS

Second- and third-year law students in good standing at an ABA-accredited law school are eligible to spend a semester at the UH Law Center and to enroll in its IPIL curriculum as well as other upper-division courses. Participants are accorded “visiting” status and receive their law degrees from their home schools. Students interested in visiting at the UH Law Center should contact the Office of Admissions at 713.743.2280 or lawadmissions@uh.edu.

IPIL COURSES TYPICALLY OFFERED

ADVANCED CONTRACT DRAFTING deals with drafting various agreements (including IPIL-related agreements), ranging from sales through licenses, and other forms of contract. 3 credits.

ADVANCED TOPICS IN COPYRIGHT LAW SEMINAR provides students the opportunity for in-depth exploration of topics of interest to them, including technological, international, and historical problems in the field of copyright law. 3 credits.

ANTITRUST examines two different legal approaches for controlling private economic power - the antitrust laws, which are designed to establish and maintain competitive markets, and regulatory statutes, which establish government agencies to supervise entry, rates, and service. 3 credits.

ART LAW examines the relevant case law and legal proceedings involving national and international disputes over the title and possession of numerous works of art and cultural heritage. 2 credits.

COMPUTER LAW is the study of law as it pertains to computers and information technology. The course examines the impact of commercial law concepts on technology and the law of contracts as applied to computer software and hardware. 3 credits.

COPYRIGHT LAW deals with the protection of the works of human intellect (literature, music, art, computer programs, etc.) under the Copyright Act of 1976, as amended. The course includes subject matter, ownership, duration, formalities, exclusive rights, infringement actions and defenses, remedies, federal preemption of state law, and international aspects of copyright. 3 credits.

DIGITAL TRANSACTIONS covers issues in software and online licensing, including the nature of remedies, warranties, and other obligations that arise from such transactions. 2 credits.

ENTERTAINMENT LAW blends concepts and skills derived from intellectual property, contracts, and torts, with emphasis on recent Internetbased developments (e.g., MP3 and Napster) in the relevant entertainment industries. 2 credits.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP examines entrepreneurship and specifically discusses the challenges and strategies one faces becoming a successful entrepreneur.  Whether opening a law practice or starting a new business or commercializing a new technology we will examine and discuss issues such as raising capital, competitive strategies & responses, and related topics.  3 credits.

FRANCHISE & DISTRIBUTION covers a broad range of legal issues and topics involved in franchising and product distribution, including franchise regulation, disclosure, and registration, types of franchises, antitrust, unfair competition, trademarks, pricing, advertising, premises liability, and contract law. Coverage includes federal and state laws and regulations.  In addition, foreign and international franchises will be discussed. 3 credits.

GAMING AND THE LAW examines intellectual property, criminal, contract, property and other laws related to video games and online gambling. The course examines conflicts with real-world regulation and the impact (and lack of impact) that law has on the emerging state of play and on economic and social interaction in virtual spaces. 2 credits.

GENETICS AND THE LAW examines ethical, legal, and policy issues surrounding new genetic technologies flowing from the Human Genome Project; ethical issues in genetic research; genetic privacy and concerns about genetic discrimination; cloning, stem-cell research, and reproductive uses of genetic information; forensic use of genetic information; behavioral genetics; medical applications such as gene therapy and genetically targeted drug therapies; problems with commercialization and regulation of genetic products and services; issues in genomic medicine; and gene patenting.  

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ADVANCED TOPICS SEMINAR is a treatment of specialized subjects in intellectual property law, including currently unresolved issues in domain name disputes, dilution of trademarks, patent scope determinations, and licensing of copyrights in diverse media. 3 credits.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW SURVEY covers domestic intellectual property laws—patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret—through statutes and cases. The course is intended to afford the student who intends to practice in other areas an acquaintance with issues and principles, and to provide the would-be IPIL specialist an introduction to the overall subject. 2 credits.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT examines the legal and managerial issues facing an intellectual property or information-based organization from its startup phase through either an initial public offering (IPO) or an acquisition by another firm.  2-3 credits.

INTERNATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY covers: international public law; private international intellectual property law, that is, the acquisition and enforcement of IP rights internationally; and comparative aspects of IP law among major trading countries or regions of the world. 2-3 credits.

INTERNATIONAL ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY examines, analyzes and studies the remarkable debate regarding how to enforce trademarks, patents, and copyrights beyond national boundaries. Special emphasis is placed on the differences and similarities between the diverse national intellectual property enforcement systems. 2 credits.

INTERNET LAW is a survey of legal issues arising from the rapid growth of Internet and other online communications. Coverage includes intellectual property, First Amendment, criminal, and privacy issues. A working knowledge of cyberspace is helpful, but not required. 3 credits.

INTERSESSION COURSES, taught frequently during the winter break, consider a variety of currently topical subjects such as database protection and privacy, as well as issues posed by pending and recently decided major cases before the federal and state courts. 1-2 credits.

LICENSING AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER examines the nature of “technology,” the means for establishing legal rights in technology, and the ways of employing and transferring such rights. 3 credits.

LLM THESIS COURSE affords Master of Laws candidates the opportunity to produce thesis scholarship, under the supervision of IPIL faculty, in any area of intellectual property law or information law.

PATENT LAW examines the substantive law of patenting as a means for protecting industrial ideas. The course focuses on conditions for a patent, loss of a right to a patent, patent specification, infringement, patent litigation, and licensing of patents. 3 credits.

PATENT PROSECUTION studies substantive law and procedures governing the patent application process, and emphasizes practical application of the rules to real-life situations. Students produce writing projects related to the preparation and prosecution of a hypothetical patent application in lieu of a final exam. 2 credits.

PATENT REMEDIES AND DEFENSES studies issues commonly arising in modern patent litigation. The course examines necessary parties, remedies, and affirmative defenses. 2 credits.

PROPERTY CRIME IN THE INFORMATION AGE focuses on how criminal law deals with takings of new forms of property, such as business information, trade secrets, and copyrighted material. The material reviews criminal theft and introduces criminal misappropriation and infringement. 2 credits.

SPORTS LAW covers topics such as representation of the professional athlete in contract negotiations and endorsements, related intellectual property matters, the player-club contractual relationship, anti-trust and collective bargaining issues in amateur and professional sports, and sports tort liability.  2 credits.

TRADE SECRETS surveys the practical aspects of trade secrets as they relate to prosecution by contract and operation of law, relationships of the parties, public law constraints, adversarial considerations, and licensing. 2 credits.

TRADEMARK AND UNFAIR COMPETITION examines the evolution and practice of trademark and related unfair competition law, with emphasis on litigation strategy. 3 credits.

TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE covers topics in the protection of intangibles as they relate to knowledge generated by indigenous people around the world. The course will also cover the issues involved with knowledge derived from genetically isolated populations.