Extracurricular Programs
The student-run Intellectual Property Law Society brings speakers to the Law School and serves as a clearinghouse for information about career opportunities in intellectual property, as well as putting on a number of events throughout the school year. Students also have the opportunity to work on the Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal. The Journal, founded and run by students, is a cooperative effort with the intellectual property section of the State Bar of Texas. The Society and the Journal also organize an annual symposium on current issues in intellectual property law. In addition, students are also actively involved in national intellectual property competitions, such as the Giles S. Rich Patent Moot Court competition, the Saul Lefkowitz Trademark Moot Court competition, and the Nathan Burkan Memorial Copyright writing competition.
Special events also occur at the Law School periodically. In November 1999, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which deals with patent issues, heard argument at the University of Texas School of Law. In February 1998, the Law School hosted Computers, Freedom and Privacy '98, a major international conference that explored the impact of computer technology on our fundamental freedoms. Other events have included a visit with students by the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Law Library
The Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas School of Law is the 6th largest law library in the country. The Library collects comprehensively in all areas of intellectual property law, including materials with an international focus. The Library is a Federal Depository for Congressional and U.S. administrative material and this includes key government publications in the intellectual property field such as the Official Gazette of the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Complementing this outstanding print collection are extensive electronic information resources.
In addition, the Tarlton Law Library is only a short distance from the Richard M. McKinney Engineering Library. This library, one of only five U.S. patent depositories in Texas, has copies of most utility patents issued since 1790, plus electronic facsimile images of the full text and drawings of all U.S. utility patents. It also has copies of all U.S. plant and design patents.
The Law School has a large and active continuing legal education ("CLE") staff running conferences for the benefit of the practicing bar. Every November, the Law School sponsors an Advanced Patent Law Institute, a limited-enrollment gathering that allows patent lawyers to discuss issues of current importance. The Law School also sponsors a Computer Law Conference every spring in Austin. For the past four years, these conferences have drawn over 200 people to Austin each spring for two days to hear discussion on topics such as software licensing, Internet law, and electronic commerce. In addition, the Law School regularly presents a conference on Entertainment Law.
Writing Competitions
The Law School sponsors two competitions for papers related to intellectual property law. The Louis T. Pirkey Prize in Intellectual Property Law, supported by an endowment established by the Austin Intellectual Property Law Association, honors Louis T. Pirkey, a distinguished intellectual property lawyer and a longtime adjunct instructor at the Law School. The Nathan Burkan Memorial Copyright Writing Competition is part of a national competition of papers on copyright law sponsored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).