A pleasure to join fellow IP scholars for the annual Texas A&M Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable. One feature of the roundtable is its focus on discussion rather than presentations. Another is the collegial exchanges and warm hospitality of our hosts. Many thanks to Professors Peter Yu, Srividhya Ragavan, Jeff Slattery, Prof. H. Brian Holland Glynn Lunney Hannah Bloch-Wehba.

I spoke about adapting IP law and education to remain relevant, particularly regarding disruptive technologies, geostrategic shifts, and inclusive innovation. AI patents recorded their highest annual average growth rate ever. With advances in AI, what is certain is that our role in creating and inventing will continue to diminish. Unfortunately, the law on infringement remains untested. A carefully calibrated safe harbor is better than fair use.

We also need to consider inclusive innovation in thinking about a long-range national IP strategy. The USPTO, Santa Clara University School of Law, the Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice, University of California system, and the United States Intellectual Property Alliance – USIPA lead this important crusade. Each is working to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in innovation and entrepreneurship, including by collecting and analyzing data to establish metrics and help inform policy changes.

We need to broaden our definition of IP education in more dimensions. For example, The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property helped 85 community colleges to supply regions with talent pipelines and hopes to scale distribution throughout K-16. Its strength is its focus on local communities and reaching groups outside the ecosystem of typical IP stakeholders.

Those of us in universities also must step up to provide thought leadership to help decision-makers in government, make interdisciplinary research mainstream, and continue to build on international collaboration. In a more uncertain and volatile world, building a national and international network of bridges will be even more important.

Photos (clockwise): roundtable participants posing for a group photo; with Timothy (Tim) McFarlin, Sean Tu, and Amanda Reid; a roundtable session in progress. #intellectualproperty #law #community #data #growth #entrepreneurship #strategy #university #collaboration #hospitality #building #talent