WELCOME TO THE IP INSTITUTE!

The Intellectual Property Institute was originally established to build an infrastructure for developing various IP initiatives and projects. Principal among these was the annual Intellectual Property Law and Policy Conference, known as the “Davos of IP.”  The Conference has offered an important forum for leaders in government, the judiciary, academia and the private sector around the world to meet, discuss and resolve current IP issues. In addition, the Institute hosts an annual London Roundtable, an invitation-only discussion forum of IP leaders as well as a number of IP public lectures and seminars in IP.  It drafts amici curiae briefs in cases dealing with IP issues and recently started producing a monthly podcast.

The Institute promotes a legal realist approach to IP law in order to better understand what the law actually is and does, and to predict where it is going. In doing so, it hopes to foster progress toward identifying and resolving issues of concern to the IP community. A critical mission of the Institute is to develop the next generation of IP law practitioners and to encourage them to think critically about the importance of IP rights.

The 31st Annual IP Institute Conference Begins In

News

WIPO’s Director General, Francis Gurry, Issues Statement on Intellectual Property, Innovation, Access and COVID-19
On April 24, 2020, the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Francis Gurry, issued a statement entitled ” Some Considerations on Intellectual Property, Innovation, Access and COVID-19.” In the article, he discusses the importance of identifying barriers to access in order to foster innovation and produce a vaccine, treatment, or cure for […]
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Blog Posts

There’s No Excuse. 39 Years of Judicial Excellence Rewarded with Degrading Judicial Abuse
My father subscribed to the New York Times and Daily News. When I was growing up, I read his copy of the Daily News. In Junior High School and thereafter I added the Times. This has been a great way to start the day for me ever since. At least until recently. Today, the news […]
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Intellectual Property Law & Policy Conference

2024: 31st Annual Conference, April 4-5
2023: 30th Annual Conference, April 13-14

Testimonials From Our Conference

  • "It literally is a Who’s Who of people who have played a profound role in shaping intellectual property around the world this year, in other years, and in some cases in many of the years, for the quarter of a century that this conference has been taking place."

    Brad Smith
    President and Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft Corporation
  • “What distinguishes the conference is the sheer intensity of its focus. Prominent speakers’ papers became the subject of vigorous and often dramatic debate as big name IP experts came under sustained fire from their peers and were required to defend their IP beliefs”

    The IPKat
  • “This must be one of the most enjoyable and thought-provoking conferences in the IP field. The high quality of the speakers is matched by the intense, audience-led debates and challenges which follow.”

    Sir Hugh Laddie
    Former Justice, Royal Courts of Justice
  • “Faculty for the conference . . . speak with a combination of candor and timeliness that is unrivaled by any other forum of its kind.”

    Honorable Marybeth Peters
    Former Register of Copyrights, U.S. Copyright Office
  • “I always encounter the most stimulating ideas at the Fordham IP Conference in New York. That is the one I like for giving me fresh ideas and new ways to look at IP.”

    Don Weerawit Weeraworawit
    Deputy Secretary-General, Human Rights Commission
  • "It’s the people who come here. Each attracts the other. Once you are here, you know that you have the opportunity to interact with and learn from the people who are leaders worldwide."

    Hon. Pauline Newman
    U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • “These are the deep experts that care about the IP system in a multidisciplinary way. It’s not just about patents or trademarks or copyrights, it’s everything... and it’s international in nature. It's the only conference like it in the world and it's highly substantive from end to end. That’s why I spend my time at it.”

    David Kappos
    Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
  • "I think Hugh Hansen makes the conference what it is. He brings super-talented people into a room and tears away any affectation, any hubris, and any ego because he insults them all."

    Eric Osterberg
    Osterberg LLC
  • “It’s really a gathering point for leaders in the field of IP from all over the world. Hugh prizes spontaneity, and he loves the idea of a conference where things happen live and in real-time.”

    Dean Matthew Diller
    Fordham University School of Law
  • “He’s one of a kind. There aren’t any other Hugh Hansens around.”

    Prof. Martin Adelman
    The George Washington University Law School
  • “I thought it was LEARN, then DEBATE, then HAVE FUN. No, it’s actually all together at once.”

    Antony Taubman
    Director, Government Procurement and Competition Division, World Trade Organization
  • “No one just comes to get their CLE credits. No one just shows up because you have to network. Everyone who comes here really wants to learn and think about the newest issues and exchange their ideas with everyone else.”

    Magdelena Berger
    Curi Platz LLP, New York; Affiliated Fellow, Emily C. & John E. Hansen Intellectual Property Institute
  • “The Fordham IP Conference is really the place to come anywhere in the world to get both a broad overview and a deep dive into the key intellectual property issues of the day.”

    Joel Reidenberg
    Fordham University School of Law
  • “It’s a pantheon of gods of the IP world. Yet it’s the ideas that are brought to the table more than the seniority of the person that matters.”

    Daryl Lim
    UIC John Marshall Law School
Fordham IP Institute