North Carolina Central University will be among a handful of colleges and universities in the nation to offer legal expertise on tech innovation protection, as the NCCU School of Law today announced the launch of its Intellectual Property Institute.
Law students will work with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to review patent filings which may damage or hinder existing intellectual creations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Officials say the institute will offer greater and more diverse access to one of the fastest growing disciplines in the legal industry.
“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.”
Funding for the institute was given by the SAS Institute, a data and analytics corporation based in Cary, NC., which officials say was a timely investment in local education and industrial innovation.
“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.”
The institute debuts days after US senators unanimously passed legislation to allow federal judicial review of trade secret infringement cases, a previously unprotected element of patent and trademark law.
