David E. Nelson Memorial Lecture: The Role of Patent and Trade Secret Licensing in Supporting Early-Stage Innovation

Professor Rob Merges will be presenting his new paper, Patents, Validity Challenges, and Private Ordering: A New Dispensation for the Easy-Challenge Era, which focuses on IP’s impact on R&D and the economics of licensing transactions.

Professor Merges is Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Advanced Degree Programs and Global Engagement. Professor Merges is co-founder and co-Faculty Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, cornerstone of Berkeley Law’s intellectual property program. Professor Merges has authored or co-authored five books: (1) Patent Law and Policy: Cases and Materials; (2) Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age; (3) Legal Protection for Computer Technology; (4) Trademarks, Unfair Competition and Business Torts; and (5) Justifying Intellectual Property. He has also edited six other books.