Intellectual Property & Licensing

This course provides a survey of intellectual property (IP) law and how IP intersects with the sport industry. It covers what kinds of information and creations can be protected, when IP rights arise, who owns them, how rights are enforced, and why IP is so important in the context of the business of sport. We will examine the basic doctrines of the federal and state laws governing patent, trade secret, copyright, trademark, false advertising, and rights of publicity. For each type of IP, we will analyze its relevance to sport organizations, teams, leagues, events and athletes, and how the different types of IP can be monetized by those entities through licensing and other means. The course will introduce students to the fundamentals of licensing and its importance as a stream of revenue for many sport properties. Students will learn to identify, analyze, and negotiate the key provisions of a licensing agreement, and to drafting a basic licensing agreement.