NCCU School of Law Establishes Intellectual Property Law Institute With Help From SAS
Durham, N.C. (PRWEB) April 06, 2016 -- North Carolina Central University School of Law is establishing a new Intellectual Property (IP) Law Institute that will provide legal expertise, curriculum and training for students while serving the public interest.
Analytics leader SAS has provided funding to help NCCU launch the Institute.
“NCCU’s law school is committed to provide education and training in emerging areas of legal practice,” said Phyliss Craig-Taylor, J.D., dean of the NCCU School of Law. “IPLI will allow us to matriculate practice-ready graduates prepared to address the difficult IP questions in the 21st century.”
Institute enrollees will gain practical legal experience by helping review suspect patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). They will be directly serving the public interest by invalidating patents that could be used to disrupt businesses – a practice that imposes significant costs on the US economy.
NCCU’s School of Law is one of only 11 law schools certified by the USPTO to offer both a Patent Clinic and a Trademark Clinic. The new Institute will work initially with industries in North Carolina, later expanding across the country to help to improve patent quality and protect organizations’ intellectual property.
The IP Law Institute will fill a critical need of one of the fastest-growing practices of law, while attracting students with undergraduate degrees in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines. The Institute has the additional objectives of: 1) recruiting STEM students with diverse backgrounds and experiences to intellectual property careers; 2) providing practical experience for students in the protection of creative works and innovations; 3) advanced training for law graduates in the form of continuing legal education seminars, symposiums and publication; and 4) promoting a quality patent system through filing Inter Partes Reviews (IPRs) in the public interest.
NCCU Law Professor Charles Smith, J.D., will serve as the inaugural director of the IP Institute. Prior to joining NCCU in 1979, Smith was a patent examiner, a patent attorney for Xerox Corporation, and counsel for Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco, Calif. He has also been an attorney advisor for the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the United States Information Systems Command, and Of Counsel for Olive and Olive.
“This support of the Institute by SAS is enormously valuable to the principle objective of training students to be key players in addressing the quality of United States Patents,” said Smith. “We are truly grateful to SAS for demonstrating leadership and support for students and this community.”
In addition to being active in patent reform efforts, SAS supports education initiatives that prepare students for the 21st century workforce, with a particular focus on efforts in its home state of North Carolina.
“The IP Institute is a perfect nexus of two important advocacy areas for SAS,” said John Boswell, SAS Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. “We’re helping a local university produce talent that’s in high demand in the Triangle and beyond. The graduates of this program will provide needed resources to the legal market, which will help businesses and organizations innovate and thrive.”
For more information, please contact Professor Smith at csmith(at)nccu(dot)edu or 919-530-6348.
North Carolina Central University prepares students to succeed in the global marketplace. Flagship programs include the sciences, technology, nursing, education, law, business and the arts. Founded in 1910 as a liberal arts college for African-Americans, NCCU remains committed to diversity in higher education. Our alumni excel in a wide variety of academic and professional fields. Visit http://www.nccu.edu.
About SAS
SAS is the leader in analytics. Through innovative analytics, business intelligence and data management software and services, SAS helps customers at more than 80,000 sites make better decisions faster. Since 1976, SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW®.
Kia Bell, North Carolina Central University, http://www.nccu.edu, +1 919-530-5440, [email protected]
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