Essay on Intellectual Property Curricula in the United States

Abstract:     
In 1999, Professor Roberta Kwall of DePaul University Law School published rather interesting statistics regarding intellectual property course offerings at American law schools. Apparently, much has changed in the six short years since she conducted her survey. In 1999 Kwall reported that there were 56 law schools offering a course titled Patent Law and 54 law schools offering a course titled Copyright Law. Today, there are 139 law schools offering Patent Law and 123 law schools offering Copyright Law. All but seven law schools in America offer at least one course in intellectual property. Fifty-two schools offer 1 to 4 classes, 89 schools offer 5 to 10 classes, and 20 schools offer more than 10 courses.

Clearly, American legal academia has discovered intellectual property. It seems inappropriate any longer to refer to it as a hot new area. To date, except for Kwall's survey, there has been no nation-wide, systematic study of the status of intellectual property course offerings. This essay examines the state of intellectual property law curricula in the United States today.

Keywords: Intellectual Property, Copyright, Patent, Law Schools, Curriculum

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