On October 25, 2019, Texas A&M University School of Law brought together several leading patent scholars to examine the latest domestic and international legal developments at the "Pharmaceutical Innovation, Patent Protection and Regulatory Exclusivities" Symposium.

Organized jointly by the Texas A&M Journal of Property Law and the Texas A&M Center for Law and Intellectual Property (CLIP), this event interrogated the role of patents and regulatory exclusivities in providing incentives for the pharmaceutical sector. The Symposium also explored the balance between proprietary protection and public access needs at both the domestic and international levels.

In addition to Texas A&M Law Professors Gabriel Eckstein and Peter Yu, presenters included Professors Jorge Contreras, S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah; Yaniv Heled, Georgia State University College of Law; Erika Lietzan, University of Missouri School of Law; Emily Michiko Morris, Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University; Arti Rai, Duke University School of Law; Ana Santos Rutschman, Saint Louis University School of Law; and John Thomas, Georgetown University Law Center.

"I was excited that the Journal had accepted my conference proposal for their annual fall symposium. There have been a lot of new, exciting developments in the area of pharmaceutical innovation, which range from the growing use of big data analytics in R&D to the fast-paced development of biologics and personalized medicines to the proliferation of international trade agreements. At Texas A&M, we also have a lot of students with intellectual property and health law interests," said Professor Yu, the director of CLIP and the co-organizer of the Symposium.


Yu is a world-renowned expert in international intellectual property law and writes at the intersection of intellectual property and public health. His latest books include The Global Governance of HIV/AIDS: Intellectual Property and Access to Essential Medicines (Edward Elgar Publishing), which he coedited with Obijiofor Aginam, Head of Governance for Global Health at the United Nations University-International Institute for Global Health in Malaysia and John Harrington, Professor of Global Health Law at Cardiff School of Law and Politics in the United Kingdom.


"This symposium convenes an extraordinary group of scholars who think regularly and deeply about one of the most important sets of challenges that confront our society, And this reflects the high bar for all our academic events." concurred Professor Saurabh Vishnubhakat, who teaches patent law at Texas A&M University School of Law and has served as the Journal's longtime faculty advisor. "The annual symposium of our Journal of Property Law represents a significant contribution to the national and global academic conversation, as well as a powerful teaching moment for our students.”

Professor Saurabh Vishnubhakat, who co-organized the Symposium, is one of the country's foremost experts on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Holding a joint appointment at the Texas A&M University College of Engineering, he testified on "Emerging Trends in Patent Quality" before the Federal Trade Commission last year. His testimony is available online.

The papers from the Symposium presenters will be collected in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Property Law, which will be published in fall 2020. The Journal members are excited about the opportunity to work closely with these leading authors.

"From the perspective of most of the students, this area of law can be overwhelming and complex, said Cameron Saenz '12, the Journal's Symposium Editor. "At this symposium, the thorough and intimate discussion of the challenges of pharmaceutical patents allowed the students to learn about the different angles and considerations that these scholars have engaged in their research. We look forward to their articles contributing to the quality and reputation of our Journal, and the further development of pharmaceutical patent law."



About Texas A&M University School of Law's Intellectual Property Program

Texas A&M University School of Law currently has seven full-time intellectual property law professors. Boasting one of the lowest student-faculty ratios in this specialized area among U.S. law schools, the Texas A&M intellectual property law program is a leading international hub for research and education in the field.

In addition to an intellectual property concentration for J.D. students, the program offers a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Intellectual Property degree for lawyers and a Master of Jurisprudence (M.Jur.) in Intellectual Property degree for non-lawyers. In the past three years, peer surveys conducted by U.S. News and World Report have ranked Texas A&M consistently among the top 10 intellectual property law programs in the United States.