Design patents are currently the hottest form of intellectual property protection. One of the coolest institutions in the intellectual property legal academy is the
University of Richmond School of Law's annual "
Evil Twins Debate." This year, I am very honored to have been invited to be one of the Evil Twins in a debate entitled "
Design Patents: Great Idea, or Greatest Idea." Purely for the sake of argument, I will represent the
Greatest Idea position.
Here is how the Richmond School of Law describes the Evil Twins Debate:
The Intellectual Property Institute's Evil Twin Debate Series is founded on the notion that experts are often at loggerheads on important issues of IP policy, yet remain friendly on a personal level. The series therefore brings together pairs of scholars who disagree on an important IP topic, but who can air their disagreements in a friendly exchange—serious in substance but lighthearted in tone.
2013 Debate
The Seventh Annual Evil Twin Debate will take place at noon on November 15, 2013, in the law school's moot court room. It will feature Professor Mark Janis of Indiana University's Maurer School of Law and Professor Andrew Torrance of the University of Kansas School of Law. They will debate the topic Design Patents: Great Idea, or Greatest Idea? [Emphasis added.] As always, the debate is open to the public, and a Q&A and reception will follow.
The debate will be simulcast and recorded for posting on the web. The debate should be a lot of fun.