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Fifty years ago, Congress enacted the Copyright Act of 1976. It did so not in a vacuum but alongside other existing intellectual property systems and laws, including the Trademark Act of 1946 (the Lanham Act, which turns 80 this year), the Patent Act of 1952 (approaching its 75th anniversary), and state laws for trademarks, trade secrets, and rights of publicity. And Congress later passed the America Invents Act in 2011 (15 years ago) and the Defend Trade Secrets Act in 2016 (10 years ago).

Inspired by these anniversaries, this Conference, organized by the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara Law, examines the past five decades in intellectual property law with a broader lens. Leading scholars in all fields of IP will analyze the past, present, and future of IP. 

Honoring Judge Alsup: The Conference will also celebrate Judge William Alsup and his 27 years of public service on the bench. Judge Alsup has presided over some of the most significant IP/technology cases, including Google v. Oracle, Waymo v. Uber, and, most recently, Bartz v. Anthropic. The special program includes a fireside chat with Judge Alsup moderated by Paul Grewal, former U.S. magistrate judge and Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase. 

January 30, 2026
8:50am - 4:30pm

Santa Clara University
School of Law
Charney Hall

Register Online

Schedule
(subject to change)

8:50–9:00am	Introduction
9:00–10:15am	How It Started Christine Farley (trademark), American University Washington College of Law Sharon Sandeen (trade secret), Mitchell Hamline School of Law Saurabh Vishnubhakat (patent), Cardozo School of Law Alfred Yen (copyright), Boston College Law School Moderator: Tyler Ochoa, Santa Clara Law
10:15–10:30am	Break
10:30 –11:45am	How It’s Going: What Went Right? Graeme Dinwoodie (design protection or IIP), Chicago-Kent College of Law Jeanne Fromer (trademark), New York University Law School Rob Merges (patent), UC Berkeley Law Rebecca Tushnet (copyright), Harvard Law School Moderator: Brian Love, Santa Clara Law
11:45 –1:30pm	Lunch Welcome by Dean Michael Kaufman, Santa Clara Law Edward Lee, Santa Clara Law, Introduction of Program for The Honorable William H. Alsup, U.S. District Court Judge for Northern District of California Paul Grewal, former U.S. Magistrate Judge and Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase, Fireside Chat with Judge Alsup
1:45–3:00pm	How It’s Going: What Went Wrong? Mark Lemley (patent), Stanford Law School Mark McKenna (trademark), UCLA School of Law Trevor Reed (copyright), UC Irvine School of Law  Pamela Samuelson (copyright), UC Berkeley Law Moderator: Zahr Said, Santa Clara Law
3:00–3:15pm	Break
3:15–4:30pm	Where Do We Go From Here? BJ Ard (copyright), University of Wisconsin Law School Colleen Chien (patent), UC Berkeley Law Camilla Hrdy (trade secret), Rutgers Law School Keith Robinson (patent), Wake Forest University School of Law Jennifer Rothman (right of publicity), Univ. of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Moderator: Edward Lee, Santa Clara Law
4:30–5:30pm	Reception

MCLE
This event will qualify for 5.75 hours of California MCLE credit. Santa Clara Law is a California State Bar approved provider.

This event is sponsored by the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara Law.