JIPSA Workshop Attracts National Audience

Members of the Junior Intellectual Property Scholars' Association (JIPSA) from across the United States gathered for their inaugural annual meeting and two-day workshop at Washburn Law on June 12 and 13. The workshop was designed to provide a forum for robust scholarly discussion as participants transition out of the spring semester and into the summer writing season.

Some of the timely topics at the workshop included patent reform, the protection of designs, the evolution of language in trademark law, recent copyright rulings by the United States Supreme Court, and the interaction between intellectual property and other disciplines such as international law and charity law.

Washburn Law Associate Professor Patricia Judd is a founding co-chair of the Junior Intellectual Property Scholars' Association, along with Professor J. Janewa Osei-Tutu at Florida International University College of Law. The association, launched in the fall of 2013, provides informal opportunities for junior scholars from across the nation and beyond to exchange ideas regarding scholarship and teaching in the field of intellectual property law. 

"One of the wonderful things about the intellectual property community is the abundance of opportunities created for scholarly exchange," stated Professor Judd. "We are thrilled that JIPSA is already contributing to that climate of cooperation in the field by creating a specific space for interaction among junior scholars.  I am excited to be a part of this endeavor and am really pleased that our first workshop was such a success."