COURSE NUMBER: MBA290T.3
This course is cross-listed
with the EWMBA Program & Berkeley Law
COURSE TITLE: Intellectual Property for Tech Entrepreneurs
UNITS OF CREDIT: 3
INSTRUCTOR: Todd Fitch
E-MAIL ADDRESS: fitch@haas.berkeley.edu
CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: bCourses
PREREQUISITE(S): None
CLASS FORMAT: Mixture of lectures and cases
REQUIRED READINGS: Mixture of cases and course reader
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Class participation, short papers, final project
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S
CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
This course’s objective is
to understand how tech entrepreneurs can best develop and manage intellectual
property (IP) assets and integrate them into a successful business. The course
will briefly describe different types of IP (copyright, trademark, patents, and
trade secrets) and discuss their uses in technology companies. The course also
will discuss best practices for developing, protecting, licensing, and
enforcing IP rights. Best practices in avoiding infringement, and patent
insurance and patent pool consortiums will be covered. The course further will
discuss the pros and cons of using open source software and how angel and
venture capital investors view IP. The course will leverage case studies,
current events, and industry experts to provide practical, working knowledge in
the use of IP assets as part of a successful business strategy.
For Berkeley Law students:
This course complements, but does not replace Intro to IP Law. Law students
enrolling in the course are strongly encouraged to have completed Intro to IP
(or in the case of LLM candidates, have some background in IP law practice).
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Todd Fitch is a technology
practitioner and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in Silicon
Valley as an engineer and executive. He has worked at companies ranging in size
from Fortune 500 companies to small startups. He was a member of the Patent
Review Board at a Fortune 1000 company and currently advises startups on
intellectual property strategies. He is the inventor or co-inventor on 31
issued patents.
Todd has taught economics
and analytics at the University of San Francisco since 2009 and has taught
economics at Haas since 2010. He has a B.S. in Computer Science from San Jose
State University and MBAs from Columbia University and UC Berkeley.