Study

This course covers the fundamentals of United States antitrust law as well as the underlying legal and economic theory. Topics include (i) horizontal restraints of trade such as cartels, oligopolies, and joint ventures; (ii) monopolization and the conduct of dominant firms; (iii) vertical restraints of trade between suppliers and customers such as resale price maintenance, territorial and customer restrictions, tying arrangements, exclusive dealing contracts, bundled and loyalty pricing; (iv) mergers; and (v) the intersection between antitrust and other areas of law, such as procedure, intellectual property, and the First Amendment.

A final exam will be offered.

This course will examine the regulation of technology, and specifically the technology of Internet and telecommunications. We will examine the possible application of antitrust law and more specific forms of regulation, and will consider pending policy proposals. We will also examine the constitutional (principally First Amendment) constraints on any such regulation.

This course will provide an introduction to the dynamic and evolving field of cyber law and policy.  The course will be team-taught by multiple instructors with expertise in various government and industry sectors. The goal is to introduce students to the legal and policy frameworks that guide lawyers and decision-makers in a world of rapid technological change, with a primary emphasis on cybersecurity and privacy. We will discuss today’s threat landscape and approaches to data breaches, cybercrime by state and non-state actors, and cyberwarfare. We will also consider the legal and policy issues surrounding the collection and use of personal data, with a focus on both domestic and international data privacy protections. Other topics will also be explored, such as the impact of emerging technologies and markets (e.g., machine learning, digital currencies, platform media) and the ethical responsibilities of lawyers. Real-world case studies will be employed to allow students to weigh in on some of the most pressing issues of our time.   This course is introductory in nature and no technical background is necessary.

Note: Students who have taken Law 609, Readings in Cyber Law with Stansbury, may not take Law 316, Intro to Cyber Law. 

This course analyzes the legal and policy regimes that shape the introduction of new products, processes, and services in the life science industries. Innovation in biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, health services, and health care delivery is central to the heavily regulated life sciences sector, and thus the sector offers a window into multiple intersections of scientific innovation, regulatory policy, and law.  Innovation in this sector is also shaped by multiple bodies of law (e.g. intellectual property law, FDA law, federal and state-based insurance and professional regulation, antitrust, tax), each with its own private and public constituencies, and therefore offers an opportunity to assess how different bodies of law approach the common issue of innovation.  Although this course focuses on innovation in the life science industries, this focus will produce lessons for innovation policy in other regulated and less-regulated industries. 

This is a comprehensive course in copyright law. We will examine the legal rights that cover works of creative expression such as literature, music, film, photography, visual art, and software. The class will cover some of the fundamental pillars of the world of creative expression in which we all live—the economic and legal architecture of our culture. This is because copyright’s rules provide the economic incentives that influence our creative output as well as part of the legal framework that shapes our communications technology. The broad impact of copyright law means that it is of importance to a wide range of legal practice and not merely to the specialist. No technical background is needed.

This course on privacy law and policy examines the ways in which the United States’ legal framework recognizes privacy rights or interests and balances them against competing interests, including, among others: freedom of speech and press, ever-expanding uses of big data, national security and law enforcement, medical research, business interests, and technological innovation. The course will address the ways that torts, constitutional law, federal and state statutes and regulations, and societal norms protect individual privacy against government, corporations and private actors in a variety of areas including: employment, media, education, data security, children’s privacy, health privacy, sports, consumer issues, finance, surveillance, national security and law enforcement. The course will also consider the significantly different approach to information privacy in the European Union and the importance of the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which became effective May 2018.  The course may also address briefly privacy issues and laws in an additional country, such as China, for purposes of further comparison.  Students will gain a broad understanding of the breadth, diversity and growing importance of the privacy field.

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to patent law and policy. No technical background is required. The course begins by addressing the history of patents as well as the policy arguments for and against using patents as a mechanism for inducing innovation. Following this introduction, students learn the basics of patent drafting and prosecution, patent claims, and claim construction. The class then addresses in depth the central patentability criteria of subject matter, utility, nonobviousness, and disclosure. Other topics of importance that are covered in the class include: the relationship between patents and other forms of intellectual property protection, particularly trade secrecy and copyright; the intersection of patent and antitrust law; the role of the two major institutions responsible for administering the patent system, the Patent and Trademark Office and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; and the role of patents in the two major industries of the knowledge-based economy, information technology and biotechnology.

This class offers an introduction to the law of trademark and unfair competition. Whether or not students intend to specialize in trademark law, a basic understanding of its rules will better enable them to advise clients who wish to protect their own marks, as well as those facing claims that they have infringed someone else’s mark. No technical background is needed. Trademarks include brand names and logos, and can also extend to other features that identify the source of a product for its consumers – including colors, packaging, and design – when they meet certain requirements. The course will begin with the requirements for obtaining trademark protection: distinctiveness, use in commerce, special rules for trade dress, and various bars to protection such as genericity and functionality. It will then cover confusion-based trademark infringement, secondary liability, anti-dilution, statutory and common law defenses, false advertising, and cybersquatting. Could a Utah theme park called “Evermore” stop Taylor Swift from calling her album “Evermore”? Did Lil Nas X’s Satan shoes infringe Nike’s trademarks? With the proliferation of craft brews, are we running out of brand names for beer, particularly pun-based “hoptions”? The course will address these and other pressing questions.

Scope of patent protection is controlled by definitions of the invention known as patent claims. The role of intellectual property protection in the economy has caused attention to be given to the precision of claim drafting. Focus on skills used in patent claim writing across a variety of technical fields and developed through exercises, problems, and competitions. Discussions of client counseling and patent application drafting in conjunction with the skill-oriented sessions provide a background in the practical issues that control the approaches taken to claim writing, as well as a basis for discussion during particular problems. This course is especially useful for students interested in patent preparation, prosecution, and litigation, or corporate law involving intellectual property transaction.

Students are required to attend the first class in order to remain enrolled in it.

In an age where nearly every organization collects and uses data, lawyers must be data-savvy. Modern data challenges ask clients to navigate legal, technical, and mission considerations, often all at once. Machine learning and artificial intelligence add still more questions, even as organizations race to realize data’s potential.

This course focuses on data governance: how organizations and communities make decisions about data, code, and their missions, and the wide-ranging impact of those decisions. Students will learn about three foundational data governance models: how companies protect and manage access to data; how data is shared and reused for research purposes; and how public datasets are assembled and managed. The course will feature simulations and interactive exercises to help students apply these models and skills to real-world scenarios.

At the end of the class, students will gain an understanding of how the law defines and regulates data, and how regulatory frameworks for data differ from field to field. They will also gain foundational knowledge in organizational and multi-stakeholder governance, and how good governance principles might apply to data. Finally, they will gain experience designing and applying governance models for organizations and multi-stakeholder collaborations.

No technical background is necessary to take this class. The first few weeks will include an introduction to data, databases, and governance best practices. 

Technological developments have greatly outpaced the legal, ethical, and policy developments in many areas of emerging technology.  As a result, these developments raise important questions on the legal and policy frameworks and practices most appropriate to build an ecosystem of trust that will help ensure citizens and other stakeholders that these innovations will benefit them and are being developed and deployed in an ethical, safe, reliable and responsible manner.  Policymakers and other stakeholders around the globe are grappling with these questions.  As the policy discussions unfold, organizations also are developing their own practices for operationalizing trustworthy or ethical technology.  To do this, organizations often assemble cross-functional teams and develop policies and practices to guide their organization, drawing on myriad sources such as existing and proposed laws, “soft law,” and other resources.  When it comes to the development of individual or novel technologies or platforms, those teams often include ethical guidance to inform “ethics by design” that can help direct developers, and the development of products themselves. The goals of this Practicum are to provide (a)the foundational legal, ethical, and policy frameworks, drawing upon the growing body of existing and proposed laws, ethics by design approaches, and other literature and resources, and (b) practical experience working in a cross-functional team to help an organization design a plan to help manage ethical development of an emerging technology or technological platform in their portfolio. Students will be evaluated on various steps in developing their plans, working with their client, their completed plan, and presentation of their work. 

Artificial intelligence is on a tremendous growth trajectory and is being developed, adopted and used for many purposes throughout society.  From a legal and policy perspective, AI presents many interesting and complex issues because the technological developments have greatly outpaced the legal, ethical, and policy developments.  One of the important questions centers on what legal and policy frameworks and practices are appropriate to build an ecosystem of trust that will help ensure citizens and other stakeholders that artificial intelligence will benefit them and is being developed and deployed in an ethical, safe, reliable and responsible manner (the “Legal and Policy Framework Question”).  Policymakers and other stakeholders around the globe are grappling with this Legal and Policy Framework Question.  As the discussions unfold, organizations also are designing their own practices for operationalizing trustworthy or ethical artificial intelligence.

The goal of the seminar is to give students a foundation in the emerging AI laws and policies and insight on the broader process of how laws and policies need to adapt for significant technological changes.  This seminar will explore in detail several approaches currently being considered to answer the Legal and Policy Framework Question, including regulatory approaches, standards, soft law, and self-regulation. As the students study various approaches, they will be asked to consider several sub-questions, such as (a) how the AI legal and policy framework should be calibrated to address risk, (b) the extent to which the framework should be sector specific or apply across industries, (c) which frameworks enable society to capitalize on AI’s benefits and mitigate potential risks, and (d) what is the optimal level of cross-border harmonization and how best to achieve it.   The course also will explore certain other legal issues arising in connection with AI, such antitrust and competition law and intellectual property and proprietary rights matters.

Law 530 (“Introduction to Entertainment Law”) introduces students to the practical aspects of working as a lawyer in the entertainment industry.  The course explores the legal issues encountered in the production, marketing and distribution of literary, musical and artistic properties and the negotiation and drafting of related contracts, to provide a comprehensive, “nuts and bolts” introduction to working as an entertainment lawyer.  The course focuses on learning practical legal and business skills such as dealmaking, drafting and negotiating financing, development, production and distribution agreements in the motion picture and television industry, as well as management and agency agreements, live performance agreements, and highlights technology and digital media concerns.  Law 530 will also examine current disputes and litigations that affect the entertainment industry, how intellectual property rights are acquired and transferred, and how relationships within the entertainment industry are structured. The goal of this course is for students to gain knowledge of the types of contracts that are negotiated within the industry, and to apply traditional legal principles of intellectual property, contract law, media law, and labor law to entertainment industry-specific agreements and/or disputes.  The final course grade will be based on (i) class attendance and participation (25%), (ii) drafting and negotiating assignments (25%), and (iii) a final written project on a specific legal issue related to the entertainment Industry (50%).

What does it take to thrive as a transactional attorney today and tomorrow? Future of Contracts aims to expose students to current issues in the digital transformation of legal services—e.g. harnessing data, facilitating operations and project management with design and technology, applying artificial intelligence to key functions, etc.—in order to help our approaches to transactional law and contracts practice be “future friendly.”

There is no question that a sea change is underway and that new are key forces for change. Legal professionals are increasingly turning to accessible and impactful technologies that help them achieve better outcomes and offer higher value through data-driven analytics and insights, higher efficiency and productivity, and greater and more equitable access. Students interested in preparing for tomorrow should be exposed to this world as much as possible.

With guest experts and current materials, the focus of all deliverables will be on realistic experiences of being a transactional attorney today and tomorrow. Graded work product will include a series of individual and team assessments—of legal tech companies, modern business challenges, and opportunities for greater access to justice.

Class will meet on a regular schedule except that one class will be canceled in order for students to take part in the Duke Center on Law & Technology’s Future of Contracts Design Derby. That will likely happen on Friday 23 February 2024. If registering, please calendar that date. (see story from 2023 Future of Contract Design Derby: https://law.duke.edu/news/students-seven-law-schools-participate-2023-future-contracts-design-derby/)

No textbook required.

Robots, with us for several generations already, were long confined to narrow uses and trained users, assembling our vehicles and moving our products behind the scenes. In recent years, robotic tools have begun to step out of the back room and take center stage. Even more, these tools are fueled by constantly advancing artificial intelligence and machine learning tools that allow them to participate in the world of the mind as much as the world of muscle. Are we ready? Probably not. In order to capture the full opportunities and benefits of AI & robotics, surely our legal systems and ethical frameworks must evolve. We must find ways to ensure that human-robot interactions occur in ways that are safe and are consistent with our cultural values. We must take care that our policies and laws provide artificial intelligence tools with the direction we need without quashing or hindering the innovations that could improve our lives.

The course will bring together three core areas: (1) law, (2) ethics, and (3) applied technology. Because frontier technologies challenge existing legal regimes and ethical frameworks, this course and its assigned project encourage law, ethics, and policy students to interact with networks of experts who are actively thinking about ethical technology development and with technology policy networks that explore the social implications of a world increasingly inclusive of AI.

Beyond time spent for class preparation and in-class time, each student in Frontier AI & Robotics: Law & Ethics will be required to complete a substantial research-based Report that demonstrates a deep, research-based understanding of a topic about which the student shall become knowledgeable such that he/she could take part meaningfully in and contribute to present-day discussions of law, policy, and ethics in the topic area. This Report may qualify for the JD SRWP degree requirement or the International LLM writing requirement upon permission of the instructor.

NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OR TECHNOLOGY IS NEEDED FOR THIS COURSE.

This seminar introduces trade secrecy doctrine and examines the most important policy contexts in which trade secrecy are arising today. No background knowledge is required. However, students must be prepared to be quick studies of various areas of technology and law. Of the various U.S. intellectual property regimes, trade secrecy is perhaps the most doctrinally elusive. Historically a common law tort that also borrowed from property and contract, trade secrecy has become codified in state, federal, and international regimes. The codification of trade secrecy doctrine has coincided with increasing recognition that it is often the most important mechanism by which firms protect returns on innovation and/or business investment. Notably, trade secrecy (and secrecy more generally) is becoming increasingly important not only for private firms, but also for national and regional innovation and security strategies. This seminar begins with an introduction to the trade secret doctrinal canon (including a discussion of how trade secrecy intersects with patent, copyright, and data exclusivity protection). It then discusses empirical evidence on uses of trade secrecy. Next, it considers various policy contexts, ranging from cybercrime and data regulation to employment and public administration. The seminar concludes by examining frontier technology areas in which trade secrecy plays a prominent role. These include machine learning and biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

Patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets are the currency of an innovation economy. Each of these forms of intellectual property may be bought and sold, licensed, or used as security. How each is used will depend on the business context; the needs of a start-up company being far different from those of a multinational corporation. This course will focus on intellectual property transactions in various business contexts, including: maximizing value and assessing risks; using intellectual property in financing start-ups; protecting trade secrets; employment issues related to intellectual property; intellectual property licensing; and intellectual property in mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcy.

Data often is referred to as the “new oil” or the “new gold,” given its potential to help unlock many economic and social benefits ranging from making industries more innovative and efficient to aiding in drug discovery, combatting climate change, and identifying and addressing social disparities.  The exponential growth of data has enhanced the need to develop robust data governance and data sharing practices, which can implicate a broad range of legal and policy issues, including privacy, cybersecurity, intellectual property, antitrust, corporate, and emerging AI policies.  Since many U.S. organizations collect and process data in multiple countries, data governance and sharing systems often need to factor in the laws of multiple jurisdictions.The goal of the seminar is to give students a foundation in the key legal and policy issues shaping data governance and data sharing practices, and insight on how organizations are operationalizing data governance and data sharing in the quickly evolving legal environment.  The course addresses relevant US laws and policies as well as select international laws and policies in order to help prepare students to address data governance and sharing practices that extend across certain jurisdictions.  To accomplish these learning objectives, the seminar begins with an overview of data governance and a series of classes focusing on legal and policy issues implicated by data governance.  Next, the seminar includes a series of classes focused on data sharing, including emerging laws and policies promoting data sharing and contractual strategies and challenges for implementing data sharing.  Finally, the course will explore how policymakers are turning to certain technology solutions to help address competing legal and policy concerns such as protecting privacy, on the one hand, and promoting data sharing and transparency, on the other.

Today, thanks to the internet, everyone is a publisher. This class will examine the regulation of communications media, including newspapers, broadcast media, social media, and internet content generally. It will survey the First Amendment principles underpinning protection for speech and address current events and ongoing debates about the media, including “fake news,” blockbuster defamation cases, and social media content moderation. This class will also cover topics specific to the practice of media lawyers, such as pre-publication review, prior restraints on speech, defending subpoenas, reporters’ privilege, and access to information. Students will be assessed on their completion of three written projects.