San Diego Business Journal
Law Conference to Cover Gender Issues in the Internet Age
By PAT BRODERICK - 2/5/2007
San Diego Business Journal Staff
Do patents, copyrights and trademarks have gender? That is among the questions that will be explored at Thomas Jefferson School of Law’s annual Women and the Law Conference set for Feb. 9.
Scheduled for the school’s campus in Old Town, “Virtual Women — Emerging Issues in Gender and Intellectual Property Law” was influenced by the increasing role of the Internet in intellectual property, and how it’s impacting women in the field, according to the organizers.
Hosted by Thomas Jefferson’s Women & the Law Project, the seventh annual event is billed as the only annual confab in the West focusing exclusively on gender issues and the law. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who visited the school in 2003, inaugurated the lecture series that bears her name.
The keynote speaker is Rochelle Dreyfuss, a professor at the New York University School of Law. She will deliver this year’s Ginsburg lecture, exploring feminist theory as it relates to IP law.
The four panels scheduled are “What a Girl Wants,” “Material Girl,” “She Blinded Me With Science,” and “She Works Hard for the Money” — all designed to bring “previously hidden problems to the surface.”
Contact Pat Broderick at pbroderick@sdbj.com or call her at (858) 277-6359, ext. 3136.
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San Diego Business Journal, Copyright © 2007, All Rights Reserved.
San Diego Daily Transcript
January 30, 2007
Law Briefs
By Doug Sherwin
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 Feb. 9 at the school's campus in 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, bears a more significant meaning. "Webster's Dictionary defines 'virtual' as 'practically, or in effect, although not in actual fact,'" said Thomas Jefferson's Julie Cromer, conference co-organizer. "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."
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, Dreyfuss will investigate ways that feminist theory can explain incentives for intellectual property at this critical juncture in intellectual property law.
Dreyfuss' keynote address will be supported by four panels. 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.
To register, or for more information, go to: www.tjsl.edu/WLC.