UAH College of Business Administration to host intellectual property law seminar

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (March 12, 2014) – The College of Business Administration of The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is hosting the eleventh annual Intellectual Property Law Seminar on March 13 and 14 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. This is the first time the annual gathering has taken place outside of Washington, D.C.

"We are delighted to be here in Huntsville," says Lateef Mtima, Professor of Law at Howard University School of Law, founder of the Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice, and organizer of the event. "Not only does this city have a long legacy of innovation, but it also lies almost equidistant from other important centers of innovation in the South, including Birmingham, Chattanooga, and Nashville, with Atlanta not much further away."

Practicing attorneys and judges from around the country will be attending the two-day seminar, which offers Continuing Legal Education credits in patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets, among others; all are essential instruments for building asset value, particularly in high-technology and high-growth business enterprises.

"We are honored to host this important national event here in Huntsville," says Dr. Caron St. John, Dean of UAH's College of Business Administration, "because of all the exciting work going on in Huntsville at the intersection of government-funded innovation and the commercialization of such innovation through business entrepreneurship."

One important theme of the seminar is social justice, and attendees – including community groups, students and others from academia, and members of the Chamber of Commerce – will be exploring how intellectual property attorneys can help raise community awareness about the ways to protect ownership of creative and innovative expressions. Underrepresented minority communities have long contributed culturally distinctive forms of artistic expression, with too many instances of original artists going unrewarded for their genius. A similar pattern emerges in the case of young athletes.

"The appropriation of the talents of others for one's own benefit is nothing new," said Dr. John Whitman, Professor of Entrepreneurship and interim director of the ICE Lab at the College of Business Administration and co-organizer of the seminar. "But we are part of an emerging movement that aims to be more inclusive of entrepreneurial opportunities across the income spectrum and to make sure that artists and inventors alike are appropriately credited and compensated for their creativity, which after all enriches our whole society."

Registration can be done online at www.iipsj.org or in-person at the Education and Training Facility of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center by 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 13. Unless you are seeking CLE credit, please indicate your registration is prepaid so that your attendance will be free.