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.