The centers recognize that the private and public effects of intellectual property often transcend national borders. In today’s highly integrated global economy, many private companies seek to obtain and enforce related intellectual property rights in multiple countries, so that students, lawyers, and scholars must grapple with issues of international and comparative law to understand the effects of intellectual property rights on the business strategies. Moreover, the macroeconomic and humanitarian effects of intellectual property in a global and digital marketplace are complex. While IP rights can promote both progress and healthy competition, improperly calibrated protection may do more harm than good. In some cases, intellectual property could problematically limit the availability of goods and services in some parts of the world.

As a result of the inherently international nature of IP rights, understanding the ramifications of IP rights in multiple countries is a vital to the effective analysis of IP law. The new partnership is therefore intended to support both the pedagogical and scholarly goals of the centers by providing opportunities for enhanced collaboration. As the relationships between the centers grows, we hope to support the exchange of both students and faculty members and to encourage scholarly interaction among researchers.