NEWS RELEASE
February 22, 2007
Thomas Jefferson School of Law Presents
The Seventh Annual Women and the Law Conference
Virtual: Women Emerging Issues in Gender and Intellectual Property Law
When: February 9, 2007
8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Where: Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Courtyard Building Room 200
2120 San Diego Avenue
SAN DIEGO - Thomas Jefferson School of Law’s Seventh Annual Women and the Law Conference, Virtual Women - Emerging Issues in Gender and Intellectual Property Law, will be held Friday, February 9, 2007, at the school’s campus in historic Old Town. The public is invited to attend and MCLE credit is available for attorneys.
The conference’s intriguing title, influenced largely by the increasing role of the Internet in intellectual property (IP), bears a more significant meaning. According to conference co-organizer, Thomas Jefferson law professor Julie Cromer, “Webster’s Dictionary defines ‘virtual’ as ‘practically, or in effect, although not in actual fact.’ Similarly, this conference will explore the various ways that the field of intellectual property can create an atmosphere for women that can be ‘virtual,’ offering rights and regimes that can appear less than genuine.”
Because of the more prominent role women are playing in the field of intellectual property, Virtual Women: Emerging Issues in Gender and Intellectual Property Law explores this disparity and raises questions addressing these distinctions. Among the challenges facing gender and intellectual property include:
• What role does gender play in the motivation of creativity?
• Do patents, copyrights and trademarks have gender?
• Can feminist theory offer ways to re-conceptualize intellectual property in a way that continues to reinforce rights?
• What challenges face women in the practice and execution of intellectual property?
The keynote speaker, New York University Law School Professor Rochelle Dreyfuss, will deliver this year’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lecture, Girls Just Want to Have Fun: What Can Feminist Theory Tell Us About Incentives? In her discussion, Professor Dreyfuss will investigate ways that feminist theory can explain incentives for intellectual property at this critical juncture in intellectual property law.
As patent, trademark and copyright protection are all becoming stronger and spreading to new subject matter, public dissatisfaction with these regimes is growing and leading to experimentation with alternatives to protection.
“This makes it the perfect time to ask questions about incentives and, specifically, what has motivated creativity in the non-IP industries,” notes Professor Dreyfuss.
Traditionally, women have played central roles in several creative fields, such as fashion, cooking, and cultural knowledge. Before these endeavors also come under the sway of intellectual property protection, society should look closely at their incentive structures to make sure the laws are achieving the goals necessary to support the endeavors.
Professor Dreyfuss’ Ruth Bader Ginsburg Keynote Address will be supported by four strong panels:
What a Girl Wants: The Theoretical Underpinnings of Gender & IP
Material Girl: The Culture of Gender and IP
She Blinded Me with Science: Gender Issues in Patent Law
She Works Hard for the Money: From the Practitioners’ Point of View
Panelists will present academic and professional work that ranges from exploring issues of gender on the Internet to examining the role of women in the field of biotechnology; from considering feminist roles in authorship and creativity to considering the feminine mystique of brands; from questioning issues of sex and fair use in copyright to issues of breast cancer and baby rights in patent; and from hearing women’s voices in the arts to hearing feminist concerns in intellectual property. These distinguished panels bring previously hidden problems to the surface in their controversial and detailed analyses.
Since 2001, Thomas Jefferson’s Women & The Law Project has hosted an annual conference, the only annual event in the West focusing exclusively on gender issues and the law. After her 2003 visit to the law school, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg greatly enhanced the conference and its keynote address by inaugurating the
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lecture Series, one of only two lecture series in the world
that bears her name.
This year’s all-day conference which is organized by Professors Julie Cromer and Sandra Rierson, will be held at Thomas Jefferson School of Law at 2120 San Diego Avenue on February 9th. Up to five hours of MLCE credit is available for the program, including one unit of elimination of bias.
To register, or for more information, go to: www.tjsl.edu/WLC Lawyers Club members receive a reduced registration rate.
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg Keynote Speaker sidebar info:
Rochelle Cooper Dreyfuss is the Pauline Newman Professor of Law at New York University School of Law. She holds B.A. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry and spent several years as a research chemist before entering Columbia University School of Law. After graduating, she was a law clerk to Chief Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger of the U.S. Supreme Court. During her time at NYU School of Law, she has served as the director of the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law and Policy. She is a past chair of the Intellectual Property Committee of the American Association of Law Schools.
Professor Dreyfuss served as a member of two National Academy of Sciences Committees, one on Intellectual Property in Genomic and Protein Research and Innovation, the other on Intellectual Property Rights in the Knowledge-Based Economy. She is currently a Reporter for the American Law Institute Project on Intellectual Property: Principles Governing Jurisdiction, Choice of Law, and Judgments in Transnational Disputes. In addition to articles in her specialty areas, she has co-authored casebooks on civil procedure and intellectual property law.