Strategic Global IP Alliances: The Pierce Advantage
Strategic Partnerships in Intellectual Property Education: Preparing Professionals for the Global Information Age
Franklin Pierce Law Center is at the forefront in establishing relationships with other intellectual property research and educational institutions around the globe. Recognizing early that intellectual property in the new century is going to be increasingly a global phenomenon and that for information technologies, geographical and political boundaries are becoming increasingly inconsequential and problematic, Pierce Law has, in addition to drawing its faculty and students from all corners of the globe, sought out strategic partner institutions and organizations in a number of nations. With these relationships as a foundation, Pierce Law created new curricula in cross-cultural negotiations, mediation, and arbitration, stressing these formats as the preferred vehicles for settling international intellectual property disputes. These activities demonstrate a commitment by Pierce Law to improving the breadth and depth of intellectual property research and education in other academic institutions, both in the United States and abroad.
Another trend is equally important. Intellectual property practice is becoming more and more interdisciplinary. Exploitation of intellectual property assets to create wealth involves not just lawyers, but also business executives managing intellectual property assets, technology directors at the interface between the development of new technologies and their commercialization, economists analyzing the costs and benefits of adjusting intellectual property policies, government administrators tasked with implementing international intellectual property agreements, and non-governmental organizations and activists seeking recognition for new kinds of intellectual property assets for new producers of intellectual properties. Building on the experience of the interdisciplinary Master of Intellectual Property (MIP) program, Pierce Law actively partners with other organizations in education from academic disciplines outside the law and with professional organizations devoted to improving the quality of practice in the intellectual property community. The following cooperative programs exemplify some of the relationships Pierce Law is expanding on today.
China (CHIPSI)
In 1999 Pierce Law was awarded a grant by the United States Department of State's College and University Affiliation Program (CUAP) to establish a partnership in intellectual property education with Tsinghua University's new School of Law in Beijing. Near the heart of China's "Silicon Valley" in Zhongguancun, Tsinghua University is the premier science and technology education institution of China. Its new law school has a mission (in common with Pierce Law) to engage in research and education on issues at the interface of law and technology. Faculty and student exchanges are ongoing and, in the early summer of 2002, Pierce Law hosted the first of an ongoing series of five-week Intellectual Property Summer Institutes on the Tsinghua School of Law Beijing campus. The developing relationship between Pierce Law and Tsinghua University will benefit students from both schools and foster a common understanding of intellectual property issues between the United States and China. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of intellectual property in the development of technology in government-funded and academic research institutions and how such technology can be effectively commercialized through venture investment, licensing, and the establishment of “spin-off” enterprises.
Franklin Pierce Law Center leads in intellectual property education in the United States. The China Intellectual Property Summer Institute at Tsinghua University School of Law, Beijing which started in 2002, is a natural extension of the Intellectual Property Summer Institute which has been held at Pierce Law every summer since 1987.
SIPO
In 2001 to further meet the need of national IP development, after study, examination and evaluation, SIPO selected thirteen global business backbones to study IP laws including Franklin Pierce Law Center in the United States. SIPO regularly sends students to build national IP capacity.
Ireland (eLSI)
Pierce Law is currently coordinating a joint summer educational institute with University College Cork Faculty of Law in Cork, Ireland. Focused on information-age legal issues at the junction of commerce and technology, the inaugural program was held during the summer of 2005.
The Law Faculty at University College Cork has developed considerable research and teaching expertise in the fields of e-Law and Commercial Law. It has been at the forefront in developing online legal resources and integrating information technology into teaching and research programs, and recently implemented a specialized LLM degree that builds on that expertise. The University College Cork Faculty of Law has also created the best curriculum in Ireland in the relevant areas and, with its new eLaw graduate program, will provide an invaluable and unique learning experience for commerce and technology focused students. University College Cork has been selected as Ireland's University of the Year 2005-06, by the Sunday Times for the second time in the last three years.
Korea
Pierce Law has maintained a cooperative program with the International Intellectual Property Training Institute (IIPTI) in Daeduk, Korea since 1990. Established by the government of South Korea, students enrolled in courses at IIPTI may transfer up to thirteen credits of course work toward the thirty credits needed to earn the MIP degree from Pierce Law.
Latin America
Beginning in 1995 Pierce Law, in cooperation with the Latin American Asociación Interamericana de la Propriadad Industrial (ASIPI), has conducted a scholarship program for students from Latin American law schools. Each year, ASIPI sponsors an essay contest with the winner receiving a full scholarship to Pierce Law.
United Nations World Intellectual Property Associations
Since 1995 Pierce Law has regularly conducted a Visiting Scholars Program in conjunction with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, a specialized agency of the United Nations. Over the past few years, WIPO scholars from Egypt, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, China, Gambia, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Jordan, Trinidad, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Malawi and Sudan have been in residence at Pierce Law. Faculty members from Pierce Law also serve on the Advisory Board of the WIPO Worldwide Academy, which is intended to become a key institution in international intellectual property education. Discussions on future cooperation are ongoing with other academic institutions in the Middle East, Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH TOP UNITED STATES IP PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Pierce has close relations with many domestic professional organizations. These relations are wide ranged and include students chapters, participation of Faculty in presentations and governance, joint projects, serving as Library repositories and more. These relationships often involve students who gain the benefit or social networking and career opportunities.
