LAW 326: Intellectual Property: Patents
Major aspects of patent law, primarily as applied in the US; patentability, including novelty, nonobviousness, enablement, infringement, and remedies. Focus is on essential legal principles and a policy analysis of the patent system. Goal is to provide background for non-patent specialists and those planning a career in the field.
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 3
LAW 330: International Human Rights
Contemporary system of international human rights, including civil, political, social, and economic rights. Women's and children's rights, indigenous rights, rights to democratic governance, and rights to cultural practices that differ from Western notions of human rights. Structure and role of international, regional and domestic bodies that report and adjudicate human rights claims. Normative justifications for human rights, and the challenges to these justifications posed by arguments for cultural relativism, and the forces of globalization. Recommended: international public law or equivalent.
Last offered: Winter 2009
| Units: 3
LAW 332: International Development
Current research. How political institutions determine economic policy choices, and economic structures affect political processes. Bridges theory and practice to investigate micro- and macro-level political and economic processes shaping the prospects for development. Case studies on market function, why seemingly inefficient institutions survive, and why governments adopt policies detrimental to development. Topics include: the political economy of corruption, the role of foreign aid, the efficacy of governance reforms, and the relationship between democracy and development.
| Units: 3
LAW 333: Judgment and Decision Making
(Same as
PUBLPOL 205A,
IPS 207A.) Theories and research on heuristics and biases in human inference, judgement, and decision making. Experimental and theoretical work in prospect theory emphasizing loss and risk aversion. Support theory. Challenges that psychology offers to the rationalist expected utility model; attempts to meet this challenge through integration with modern behavioral economics. Decision making biases and phenomena of special relevance to public policy such as group polarization, group think, and collective action. Prerequisites.
Last offered: Winter 2009
| Units: 3
LAW 343: Scientific Evidence and Expert Testimony: Patent Litigation
How to explain science to judge and jury; how litigators determine which legal issues to argue. Patent and expert testimony law. Student teams choose patents for final simulation projects, prepare claim charts, devise a design-around, and present oral arguments.
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 3
LAW 344: Law and Economics Seminar II
Current research by lawyers and economists on topics in law and economics. Guest speakers from other universities present current research. Topics include contribution among antitrust defendants, the philosophical foundations of the economic analysis of law, compensation for government regulations and takings, liability rules for controlling accidents, and the corporate tax treatment of nonprofit institutions.
Last offered: Winter 2009
| Units: 2
LAW 344: Law and Economics Seminar I
Current research by lawyers and economists on topics in law and economics. Guest speakers. Topics may include contribution among antitrust defendants, the philosophical foundations of the economic analysis of law, compensation for government regulations and takings, liability rules for controlling accidents, and the corporate tax treatment of nonprofit institutions. Prerequisite:
LAW 275 or introductory microeconomics course.
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 2
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 6 units total)
LAW 345: Law and Culture in American Fiction
How literary texts register changes in property law, the law of contracts, intellectual property and legal constructions of race, gender, and privacy, as they relate to the maintenance of personal identity, community stability, and linguistic meaning. A novel or story is paired with relevant legal and historical readings, considering the points of contact between literary narrative and narrative in law. Authors include James Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville, Henry James, Theodore Dreiser, Nella Larsen, William Faulkner, and Sherman Alexie.
Last offered: Autumn 2008
| Units: 3
LAW 356: Dispute Resolution in International Economic Law
(Same as
POLISCI 404.) Topics include: theoretical work on international trade and investment disputes; empirical work on WTO dispute resolution and the efficacy of developing country participation; and legal analysis of current, prominent disputes in the WTO and under international investment treaties.
Last offered: Winter 2009
| Units: 1
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 2 units total)
LAW 359: Tax Policy
Issues in tax policy, progressivity, income versus consumption tax, property tax and school finance, tax simplification, tax compliance and tax shelters. Possible tax initiatives of the new administration in Washington.
Last offered: Winter 2009
| Units: 3