About Us
The Center for Innovation Policy at Duke Law is a forum for independent, nonpartisan analysis and balanced discussion of policies for promoting technological innovation that enhances long-term social welfare. The Center brings together technology and business leaders, government officials, lawyers, and academics to identify improvements in legal frameworks and policies that directly affect innovation. These include intellectual property, other R&D incentives, as well as industry-specific regulation in life sciences, information, and communications. In addition to a varied program of public events on Duke’s Durham, North Carolina, campus and at the University’s conference facilities in Washington, D.C., faculty undertake original research for presentation at conferences and/or for publication. The Center draws on the expertise of affiliated faculty across the University. A board of distinguished business leaders as well as former and current public officials advises the Center’s leadership.
The Center’s activities have received financial support from a variety of public and private sponsors. Its current financial support comes entirely from foundation and government grants. To ensure the Center’s objectivity and independence, it adheres to a set of restrictive guidelines in its relationships with financially-interested stakeholders.
The Center’s Faculty Co-Directors, law professors Stuart Benjamin and Arti Rai, have done extensive academic work on spectrum auctions, broadband regulation, patent system improvement, and effective diffusion of federally funded research. Benjamin and Rai have also translated their research into practice through appointments to senior executive positions at (respectively) the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Stuart M. Benjamin
William Van Alstyne Distinguished Professor of Law
Stuart Benjamin is the William Van Alstyne Professor of Law and co-director of the Center for Innovation Policy at Duke Law School. He specializes in telecommunications law, the First Amendment, and administrative law. From 2009 to 2011, he was the first Distinguished Scholar at the Federal Communications Commission.
Benjamin is a coauthor of Internet and Telecommunications Regulation (2nd ed. 2023, 1st ed. 2019) and Telecommunications Law and Policy (multiple editions), and has written numerous law review articles. He has testified before House and Senate committees as a legal expert on a range of topics.
From 2001 to 2003 he was the Rex G. & Edna Baker Professor in Constitutional Law at the University of Texas School of Law, and from 1997 to 2001 he was an associate professor of law at the University of San Diego School of Law.
Read More
Arti K. Rai
Elvin R. Latty Distinguished Professor of Law
Co-Director, Center for Innovation PolicyArti Rai, Elvin R. Latty Professor of Law and Faculty Director, The Center for Innovation Policy at Duke Law, is an internationally recognized expert in intellectual property (IP) law, innovation policy, administrative law, and health law.
Rai's extensive research on these subjects has been funded by NIH, NSF, Arnold Ventures, the Kauffman Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, and the Woodrow Wilson Center. Her numerous publications have appeared in both peer-reviewed journals and law reviews. Peer-reviewed journals include Science, the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, the Journal of Legal Studies, Nature Biotechnology, and the Journal of Law and the Biosciences.
Read More
Saurabh Vishnubhakat
Research Fellow
Saurabh Vishnubhakat is a Research Fellow of the Center, serving since 2014. Prof. Vishnubhakat holds a joint appointment as Professor at Texas A&M University in the School of Law and the Dwight Look College of Engineering. He writes and teaches on intellectual property law, civil procedure, and administrative law, particularly from an empirical perspective. Prof. Vishnubhakat has published in a variety of journals, including the Berkeley Technology Law Journal, Duke Law & Technology Review, Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, Duke Law Journal, and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. His first book, A Tort Theory of Patent Litigation: History and Reform is under contract with Cambridge University Press. Prior to entering academia, he was principal legal advisor to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's chief economist. Prof. Vishnubhakat holds a J.D. and LL.M. in intellectual property from the University of New Hampshire School of Law and a B.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and is admitted to the state bars of Texas and Illinois.
Ashish Arora
Senior Associate Dean for Strategy; Rex D. Adams Professor of Business Administration, The Fuqua School of Business
Edward J. Balleisen
Vice Provost of Interdisciplinary Studies; Professor, The Sanford School of Public Policy; Professor, History, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences; Faculty Network Member of The Energy Initiative
Sharon Belenzon
Professor, The Fuqua School of Business
Aaron (Ronnie) Chatterji
Mark Burgess & Lisa Benson-Burgess Distinguished Professor, The Fuqua School of Business; Professor, The Sanford School of Public Policy
Wesley M. Cohen
Snow Family Professor of Business Administration, Professor of Economics and Management, and Faculty Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, The Fuqua School of Business; Professor, Department of Economics; Professor, Duke Law
John M. de Figueiredo
Russell M. Robinson II Professor of Law, Strategy, and Economics, Duke Law and The Fuqua School of Business
Nita A. Farahany
Robinson O. Everett Professor of Law, Duke Law; Professor of Philosophy, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences; Chair, Duke MA in Bioethics & Science Policy; Founding Director, Duke Initiative for Science and Society; Principal Investigator of SLAP Lab
Jon Fjeld
Director, Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative; Professor of the Practice, The Fuqua School of Business; Professor of Philosophy, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences; Executive Director, Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Fuqua)
Michael D. Frakes
A. Kenneth Pye Professor of Law, Duke Law; Professor, Department of Economics, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences
David B. Ridley
Dr. and Mrs. Frank A. Riddick Professor of the Practice and Faculty Director of the Health Sector Management program, The Fuqua School of Business
David T. Robinson
James and Gail Vander Weide Distinguished Professor and Professor of Business Administration, The Fuqua School of Business; Director of Research, Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative
Jonathan B. Wiener
William R. and Thomas L. Perkins Professor of Law, Duke Law; Professor of Environmental Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment; Professor of Public Policy, The Sanford School of Public Policy; Co-Director, Rethinking Regulation program; University Fellow, Resources for the Future, Duke University
-
Stuart M. Benjamin
William Van Alstyne Distinguished Professor of Law
Stuart Benjamin is the William Van Alstyne Professor of Law and co-director of the Center for Innovation Policy at Duke Law School. He specializes in telecommunications law, the First Amendment, and administrative law. From 2009 to 2011, he was the first Distinguished Scholar at the Federal Communications Commission.
Benjamin is a coauthor of Internet and Telecommunications Regulation (2nd ed. 2023, 1st ed. 2019) and Telecommunications Law and Policy (multiple editions), and has written numerous law review articles. He has testified before House and Senate committees as a legal expert on a range of topics.
From 2001 to 2003 he was the Rex G. & Edna Baker Professor in Constitutional Law at the University of Texas School of Law, and from 1997 to 2001 he was an associate professor of law at the University of San Diego School of Law.
Read More
-
Arti K. Rai
Elvin R. Latty Distinguished Professor of Law
Co-Director, Center for Innovation PolicyArti Rai, Elvin R. Latty Professor of Law and Faculty Director, The Center for Innovation Policy at Duke Law, is an internationally recognized expert in intellectual property (IP) law, innovation policy, administrative law, and health law.
Rai's extensive research on these subjects has been funded by NIH, NSF, Arnold Ventures, the Kauffman Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, and the Woodrow Wilson Center. Her numerous publications have appeared in both peer-reviewed journals and law reviews. Peer-reviewed journals include Science, the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, the Journal of Legal Studies, Nature Biotechnology, and the Journal of Law and the Biosciences.
Read More
Saurabh Vishnubhakat
Research Fellow
Saurabh Vishnubhakat is a Research Fellow of the Center, serving since 2014. Prof. Vishnubhakat holds a joint appointment as Professor at Texas A&M University in the School of Law and the Dwight Look College of Engineering. He writes and teaches on intellectual property law, civil procedure, and administrative law, particularly from an empirical perspective. Prof. Vishnubhakat has published in a variety of journals, including the Berkeley Technology Law Journal, Duke Law & Technology Review, Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, Duke Law Journal, and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. His first book, A Tort Theory of Patent Litigation: History and Reform is under contract with Cambridge University Press. Prior to entering academia, he was principal legal advisor to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's chief economist. Prof. Vishnubhakat holds a J.D. and LL.M. in intellectual property from the University of New Hampshire School of Law and a B.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and is admitted to the state bars of Texas and Illinois.
Ashish Arora
Senior Associate Dean for Strategy; Rex D. Adams Professor of Business Administration, The Fuqua School of Business
Edward J. Balleisen
Vice Provost of Interdisciplinary Studies; Professor, The Sanford School of Public Policy; Professor, History, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences; Faculty Network Member of The Energy Initiative
Sharon Belenzon
Professor, The Fuqua School of Business
Aaron (Ronnie) Chatterji
Mark Burgess & Lisa Benson-Burgess Distinguished Professor, The Fuqua School of Business; Professor, The Sanford School of Public Policy
Wesley M. Cohen
Snow Family Professor of Business Administration, Professor of Economics and Management, and Faculty Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, The Fuqua School of Business; Professor, Department of Economics; Professor, Duke Law
John M. de Figueiredo
Russell M. Robinson II Professor of Law, Strategy, and Economics, Duke Law and The Fuqua School of Business
Nita A. Farahany
Robinson O. Everett Professor of Law, Duke Law; Professor of Philosophy, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences; Chair, Duke MA in Bioethics & Science Policy; Founding Director, Duke Initiative for Science and Society; Principal Investigator of SLAP Lab
Jon Fjeld
Director, Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative; Professor of the Practice, The Fuqua School of Business; Professor of Philosophy, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences; Executive Director, Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Fuqua)
Michael D. Frakes
A. Kenneth Pye Professor of Law, Duke Law; Professor, Department of Economics, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences
David B. Ridley
Dr. and Mrs. Frank A. Riddick Professor of the Practice and Faculty Director of the Health Sector Management program, The Fuqua School of Business
David T. Robinson
James and Gail Vander Weide Distinguished Professor and Professor of Business Administration, The Fuqua School of Business; Director of Research, Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative
Jonathan B. Wiener
William R. and Thomas L. Perkins Professor of Law, Duke Law; Professor of Environmental Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment; Professor of Public Policy, The Sanford School of Public Policy; Co-Director, Rethinking Regulation program; University Fellow, Resources for the Future, Duke University
