IP and Social Justice

On the sidelines of CPIP’s Summer Institute, I had the opportunity to meet with Lateef Mtima, Founder and Director of the Institute of Intellectual Property and Social Justice (IIPSJ) and Professor of Law at Howard University.

Lateef established IIPSJ to promote social justice in the field of IP law and practice. IIPSJ’s partners include Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, Sughrue Mion PLLC, LLP, and Google, Inc.

I was impressed with Lateef’s inspiring vision of blending IP to address social realities and not just economic ones. Social justice is an important part of the IP dialogue and nicely fits into the JMLS’s “tradition of diversity, innovation, access and opportunity,” and mission to “provide[] an education that combines the understanding of both the theory and the practice of law.” https://www.jmls.edu/welcome/. Social justice also connects the IP program to UIC’s work in this area such as its Center for Global Health’s Social Justice Initiative.

We discussed the possibility of collaborating on a one-of-a-kind event during the 2020 – 2021 academic year. Watch this space!