crc128

Given that you all wrote an amicus for CLS v. Marinez, I assume that you believe it was wrongly decided. Do you foresee another case which could lay the groundwork to overturn it?

Note for those who don't know, CLS v. Martinez held that:

A public college does not violate the First Amendment by refusing to officially recognize a student organization unless it allows all students to join the group, even if that all comers policy requires a religious organization to admit gay students who do not adhere to the group's core beliefs. -- From Scotusblog

Freedom of Association is part of the First Amendment.

As an IP lawyer, that isn't really a First Amendment issue. Essentially, as an undergrad, the university normally doesn't get any rights in your works (see, for example, Facebook). There are circumstances where the university might have rights, however it's not clear-cut.

The situation is different for grad students. There, you're a nominal employee, and so the university has ownership of the IP under "work for hire" or "shop rights" doctrines. (There might also be explicit provisions in your employment paperwork).

Where things get complex is if you happen to invent/produce something, at home, on your own time, with your own equipment, in an unrelated field. If you're involved in something like this, you need to seek competent IP counsel. It's worse if it's a related field.

If you had a public college-bound child, what advice would you give? Would your advice differ depending on the child's gender or level of religious observance?

I hope you're still here! Love your blog, especially the recent in-depth coverage of Prenda.

In that vein, though not as overtly stupid as Prenda, have you in your background dealt with Patent Trolls? I'd love to see your pen applied to those guys. If you look into the Project Paperless case, while they were defeated, they have reformed and are now sending threatening demand letters from a constellation of LLCs that they have formed. They're targeting smaller, mom-and-pop operations, hoping people will just pay up.