Other Intellectual Property and Innovation Law Opportunities

Moot Courses

Pitt Law competes annually in two interscholastic intellectual property-related moot court competitions: the Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition, sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association, and the Cardozo/BMI Entertainment and Communications Law Moot Court Competition, which takes place at Cardozo Law School in New York City.

Teams for both competitions are selected in the Fall in internal tryouts and are advised throughout the academic year by full-time Pitt Law faculty and experienced practitioners from the Pittsburgh intellectual property bar. Completion of the full competition entitles each team member to academic credit.

Fellowship

Samuelson/Glushko Fellowship

“The Samuelson/Glushko Fellowship and the Semester in D.C. Program provided a wonderful platform for me to gain practical experience in the field of intellectual property law. In my externship with the Department of Justice, I worked alongside attorneys on a variety of intellectual property issues and observed cases in various stages of litigation.”

- Alan Leung, Pitt Law 2012

The Samuelson/Glushko Fellowship provides a $2,500 stipend for Semester in D.C. Program students who are working in intellectual property and technology law externships. The Samuelson/Glushko Fellowship is funded by a gift from Professor Pamela Samuelson of the University of California-Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law and her husband, Dr. Robert J. Glushko, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Professor Samuelson is a former member of the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

The 2011 Samuelson/Glushko Fellow, Alan Leung ’12, worked in the IP Section of the Department of Justice Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch. Alan’s seminar paper for the Semester in D.C. Program was selected as the second place winner of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s 2012 Intellectual Property Law Section Annual Writing Competition and will be published. Alan is now a patent agent at a Washington-area IP law firm, Oblon Spivak McClelland Maier and Neustadt, L.L.P.

As Alan’s experience suggests, a semester-long externship is an excellent entrée into the Washington legal market, but its value is not limited to the Washington area. Gaining experience in a federal agency or on the Hill, or working for some of the well-known non-profits engaged in lobbying and policy-making in Washington provides you with an impressive credential that will be valued anywhere in the country. Your Semester in D.C. Program seminar paper can serve as an opportunity for publication, which provides an impressive writing sample for any employer.

Applying for the Samuelson/Glushko Fellowship is easy. When you obtain an intellectual property or technology law externship that meets the SDC Program requirements, you qualify. Simply contact Prof. Elena Baylis with confirmation of your externship and its focus on IP or tech law

For more information about the Samuelson/Glushko Fellowship, or to learn more about the Semester in D.C. Program, contact Prof. Baylis at pittindc@pitt.edu or visit the website at Semester in D.C.