The Next Big Idea: The Expanding Intellectual Property Concentration at SLU LAW
07/01/2023
Professor Yvette Joy Liebesman is SLU LAW鈥檚 enthusiastic and devoted Intellectual Property concentration faculty advisor. Although her expertise is apparent in her classroom, Liebesman wasn鈥檛 always the IP expert that she is now. In fact, it wasn鈥檛 until later in her life that she decided to pursue a life in the law.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 go to law school until I was 38,鈥 said Liebesman. 鈥淚 had various careers.
I had been a professional photographer; I鈥檝e worked in pharmaceutical and biotech
companies. Eventually, I decided I needed something more challenging. So, I went to
law school, and I had some exposure to IP from there and it was just what I was most
interested in.鈥
Professor Liebesman earned her J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center in 2006. Not
long after, Liebesman joined the faculty at SLU LAW to help establish the Intellectual
Property concentration.
鈥淲e started in Fall 2010. [The concentration has] grown quite a number in the last
few years. There鈥檚 wonderful faculty that have come and gone along the way.鈥
Since she took on the role of faculty advisor, she鈥檚 guided over a decade of IP students.
Outside of her role as a mentor and professor, Liebesman is known for her expertise.
She lends her knowledge to the press regarding copyright and trademark news in the
media. She once was interviewed by CBS News and the ABA Law Journal regarding tattoo
artist Victor Whitmill鈥檚 lawsuit against Warner Bros. over a recreation of Mike Tyson鈥檚
distinctive facial tattoo in the movie 鈥楬angover II鈥. She has provided expert testimony
on several IP-related lawsuits.
A leader in the field, earlier this year Liebesman planned and co-sponsored the annual
Works-In-Progress Intellectual Property Colloquium alongside the University of Missouri
School of Law. The colloquium brought dozens of IP scholars to Scott Hall to review
works in progress covering trending topics in the field of intellectual property.
Liebesman, a prolific scholar herself, has recently published Offensive Mark Owners
Have an Enforcement Problem, where she reviews Supreme Court trademark cases and First
Amendment rights. Liebesman鈥檚 writing talents were recognized in 2013 with the International
Trademark Association鈥檚 Ladas Award for writing excellence on the subject of trademarks
and related matters.
Along with her intellect, expertise, and skills, Liebesman is mentioned to be the heart of the Intellectual Property concentration. Although she has done the bulk of the work, she shares the achievements with her students. Each class brings in new ideas for both the concentration and the correlated student organization.
鈥淥ur attitude is if a student wants to do something ... we want them to run with it.
We do our best not to take ownership of everything. And the person who is going to
do it best is the person whose idea it is and who is excited about it,鈥 Liebesman
said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also about teaching them the skills of leadership. Every year we are lucky
to have people who are really interested in [SIPLA] and come up with great ideas.
We just say: 鈥榳hat do you need from us and what can we do to help you?鈥欌
Liebesman is proud of her students鈥 success at SLU LAW and beyond; their accomplishments
include three SLU LAW IP concentration students who took first place in the 2017 International
Patent Drafting Competition. Yvette Joy Liebesman鈥檚 dedication, intellect, and remarkable
ability to elevate student potential is one of the major highlights of attending the
Intellectual Property concentration.
Faculty
The foundation of the Intellectual Property field is working with clients, individuals, and businesses with creative minds and great ideas. Those on the other side of the desk often have the same character. It doesn鈥檛 take long to realize that the growth of the concentration is due to the ingenuity of those involved.
Professor Erika Cohn has been a member of SLU LAW鈥檚 IP team since 2013, when she proposed a course called Intellectual Property Law Research. Cohn is a former director of the Vincent C. Immel Law Library. Having taken the role of associate general counsel for IP at Anheuser-Busch, Cohn remains a member of the SLU LAW team as an adjunct professor. Cohn鈥檚 dedication to helping the IP concentration prevail has shown through her teachings. 鈥淚P as an area of the law is, and has been, growing. There is an incentive for students to join a growing field and an area where there are more and more opportunities,鈥 she said.
It is common for students who take the concentration to come from various backgrounds and move forward to unique opportunities that fit their personal aptitudes. Students of all ages come into the classroom from former careers in STEM, the arts, or general studies, proving that there is no pre-requisite besides the desire to learn. Countless paths have created intellectual property attorneys.
鈥淪omething that鈥檚 exciting about teaching in this area is that we have students who come from prior careers 鈥 that law isn鈥檛 their first path. And when you have people who come from unique backgrounds, you have students who can see the issues from different perspectives, and that鈥檚 always great for the classroom,鈥 Professor Cohn says.
The newest addition to the teaching of Intellectual Property at Saint Louis University School of Law is Professor Michael Sinha. Professor Sinha has a background in medicine and research and completed a combined M.D./J.D. program at Southern Illinois University. He's taught at both Harvard Medical School and Northeastern University School of Law. As an assistant professor in the Center for Health Law Studies, Sinha uses his dual background to teach the Patent Law course at SLU LAW.
"Patent law is a natural home for law students who have a background or training in a STEM field and want to integrate their legal training into continued work in those areas. It is a fast-moving field, with cases frequently coming before the United State Supreme Court and Congress continuing to show significant interest in patent reform. After all, patent law is constitutional law: patents are explicitly mentioned in the U.S. Constitution (see Article I, Section 8, Clause 8)!" Professor Sinha said.
Students
When COVID-19 restrictions lifted, students came back to Scott Hall 鈥 and they鈥檝e proved themselves to be eager to get back to work. The Student Intellectual Property Association (SIPLA) has years of student involvement. RJ Whitehill, co-president of SIPLA and 3L, began his time at SLU LAW during the pandemic.
鈥淚n my 1L year, we had a lot of COVID limits, so it was hard to get involved. Once we were all back on campus, I got on board,鈥 Whitehill said. 鈥淚n general, SIPLA has been helpful in getting involved in the field. One thing we try to do in SIPLA is to introduce the field to students and try to make it a bit more personable. A lot of the times we hear: 鈥業 don鈥檛 have a STEM background, so I can鈥檛 get into patents,鈥 but the field is so vast and there are plenty of other opportunities.鈥
The student leadership of SIPLA organizes activities and hosts guest speakers throughout the year to educate classmates about the rapidly expanding concentration. Students can sign up to have lunch with an active attorney. They form connections, receive advice, and get a look at what it鈥檚 like to be out in the field.
2L Jeffrey Lin came from a background in biology that led him to seek the Intellectual Property concentration. He noted how SIPLA uplifts him when navigating struggles at school. 鈥淪IPLA helped me reaffirm my belief and passion that I want to do IP,鈥 Lin said. 鈥淪IPLA brings in a lot of attorneys from different backgrounds ... because of that, I got to listen to a lot of patent attorneys talk about what they do, what they like about their responsibilities and the nuances that come with their job.鈥
SIPLA members benefit from the introduction to current attorneys as well as advice from other classmates. Lin continues: 鈥淥ne thing that I love about being here, is knowing that everyone is willing to give a helping hand. When I was a 1L and trying to get the hang of things, I really relied on older students for advice. They were able to give me a lot of guidance about what classes to take and what internships to go for. So, being able to talk to upperclassmen and know that there are people I can rely on is amazing 鈥 especially Professor Liebesman. She鈥檚 one of the best professors that I鈥檝e ever had. She鈥檚 super helpful. And I think it鈥檚 partly because she鈥檚 been through what I鈥檓 trying to go through.鈥
The IP team, both faculty and students, at SLU LAW has spearheaded the expansion of the need for Intellectual Property education. The growing department has seen spikes in student attendance on courses such as IP Survey, and involvement in SIPLA. As the need for Intellectual Property expertise grows, keep an eye on SLU LAW affiliates as they bring forth their new ideas into the world of law.
