Contact: Janet Harvey Clark, MSU College of Law, (517) 432-6959; or Russ White, University Relations, (517) 432-0923, whiterus@msu.edu

9/08/2004

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Intellectual Property and Communications Law Program at the Michigan State University College of Law is hosting the 2004 Patent Law Day conference on Monday, Sept. 13, at the Law College Building on the MSU campus.

The conference brings together leading practitioners to address cutting-edge issues in patent prosecution, licensing and litigation; biotech and pharmaceutical patents; and international patent practice. Keynote speakers include Judge Avern Cohn of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and the Hon. John Whealan, deputy general counsel for intellectual property law and solicitor of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

“Patent law is one of the most exciting and fastest-growing areas in the intellectual property field,” said MSU Law professor Peter Yu, the founding director of the law college’s Intellectual Property and Communications Law Program. “There is an increasing disconnect between the academy and the practicing bar. This conference will bring together experienced attorneys on the front lines of the profession. It is very important to our students and the bar.”

The 2004 Patent Law Day conference is the beginning of a series of conferences and events organized this year by the law college’s Intellectual Property and Communications Law Program, which recently launched the LL.M./M.J. Program in Intellectual Property and Communications Law. This new master’s program offers degrees to both lawyers and nonlawyers. The program is open to domestic and international students, and students may enroll on a full- or part-time basis.

Founded in 2003, the Intellectual Property and Communications Law Program at MSU College of Law is a leading program in the nation focusing on the intersection of intellectual property and communications law. Working closely with the various internationally recognized colleges and research centers at MSU and the intellectual property and technology law faculty at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, the program seeks to promote global, interdisciplinary understanding of intellectual property and communications law.

MSU College of Law was founded as the Detroit College of Law in 1891. To extend its commitment to educational excellence, the college affiliated with MSU in 1995 and moved to MSU’s East Lansing campus in 1997. The move enabled the law college to build state-of-the-art facilities and to provide the benefits of a Big Ten campus.

MSU College of Law strengthened its affiliation with Michigan State University this year, becoming more closely aligned academically. The association between the two schools has led to a comprehensive interdisciplinary legal education program at the law college. Today, the college remains the nation’s oldest continually operating independent law school and one of only two private law schools to be affiliated with a research university.

For information about the conference, contact the MSU Law Events Office at (517) 432-6955, or visit the conference Web site at www.law.msu.edu/ipclp/patent04/index.html