Conference on Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship

The purpose of this MOA is to conduct and co-sponsor (with the USPTO and Cardozo) a conference that will be held in Alexandria, Virginia on April 29-30, 2016, concerning the early-stage empirical study of intellectual property (“IP”), with particular participation from scholars experienced in economic analysis of the law (the “Conference”). The Conference will be the third in a series of academic events that USPTO has co-organized on the subject of early-stage empirical IP research. These two conferences have proven successful among legal and economic scholars who conduct empiric study of IP, with strong interest in USPTO’s continued support of the conference series. The purpose of the Conference contemplated by the JPA is to continue to fill this research gap by continuing to provide methodological interaction and advice. Accordingly, this Conference is necessary and essential to further the mission of USPTO in that it will improve the design of academic studies – and thus improve the reliability of the findings of such studies—that explore issues of current interest in IP law. In particular, the focus of the Conference on imparting methodological expertise from scholars with experience in economic analysis of the law will improve the reliability and policy relevance of academic studies that benefit from the Conference. In turn, higher-quality academic studies and more reliable empirical findings will enable USPTO to develop and support more nuanced and defensible public policy positions when advising the President, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Administration on IP protection and enforcement.