Law School for Teens - What is Intellectual Property and How Will AI Change it?

Intellectual property law is law that is meant to encourage human innovation and creativity without restricting how that innovation and creativity makes it to the people. 

Intellectual property concerns all of human creativity: literature, the visual arts, music, drama, movies, compilations of useful information, computer programs, biotechnology, electronics, mechanics, chemistry, product design, agriculture, symbols of human and business identity, and artificial intelligence, among others.

The question is how do we encourage people to use their innate talents at creativity and profit from that creation in a way that benefits the creator and the audience for the creativity while punishing those who would steal others’ ideas?

That’s where Intellectual Property Law starts. We will look at patents, trade secrets, copyrights, and trademarks in this class. We will define the terms and begin to understand how they are used in our economy and everyday lives.

We will look at actual court cases to understand the concepts, and after we have a solid foundation in the topic, we will begin to explore the future of intellectual property law with the advent of artificial intelligence and an internet that goes beyond jurisdictional boundaries (how do you enforce law outside of your own borders?).

This is a class that should be taken after having taken one of my other law classes so that you become comfortable with the structure and the thinking of how law works before jumping into intellectual property.

Here’s the schedule for the class (may be changed based on what we are talking about in class):

Week of August 11 - August 17 - What is Intellectual Property - an Overview
We will start with the Constitution and why the federal government was given the power to regulate intellectual property. Then we will look at the agencies in charge of intellectual property and lay the foundation for the rest of the class.

Week of August 18 - August 24 - Patents, Part 1
What are patents, why are they important, how do you get a patent, and court cases to look at how patents are challenged.

Week of August 25 - August 31 - Patents, Part 2
Last class section continued.

Week of September 1 - September  7 - Trade Secrets, Part 1
What are trade secrets, why are they important, how do you create trade secrets, and court cases to look at how trade secrets are challenged.

Week of September 8 - September  14 - Trade Secrets, Part 2
Last class section continued.

Week of September 15 - September  21 - Copyrights, Part 1
What are trade secrets, why are they important, how do you create trade secrets, and court cases to look at how trade secrets are challenged.

Week of September 22 - September  28 - Copyrights, Part 2
Last class section continued.

Week of September 29 - October 5 - Trademarks, Part 1
What are trademarks, why are they important, how do you create trademarks, and court cases to look at how trademarks are challenged.

Week of October 6 - October 12 - Trademarks, Part 2
Last class section continued.

Week of October 13 - October 19 - Practice Problems
We will take the time to solidify our understanding on the differences between the types of intellectual property with some practice problems.

Week of October 20 - October 26 - Fair Use, Part 1
We will look at the complex topic of fair use and copyright law, which is applicable in so many areas of our lives - from Youtube videos to commercials to television shows to educational courses. What is a copyright strike? Why does Disney or Warner Brothers go after small Youtube channels for using their content? This is where we begin to understand how intellectual property is used and protected.

Week of October 27 - November 2 - Fair Use, Part 2
Fair use continued.

Week of November 3 - November 9 - Fair Use, Part 3
Fair use continued.

Week of November 10 - November 16 - Fair Use, Part 4
Fair use continued.

Week of November 17 - November 23 - Practice Problems
Use practice problems to understand fair use.

Week of November 24 - November 30 - Intellectual Property and the Internet
How does intellectual property affect the internet?

Week of December 1 - December 7 - Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is built on the intellectual property of others. Is this an ethical use of technology?

Week of December 8 - December 14 - Intellectual Property and the Future
How will intellectual property affect our future lives?