Areas of Study
Legal rights concerning innovation, information, and technology – ownership rights through intellectual property (IP) and information-privacy protections through various laws – are among the most important and fast-developing areas of legal practice. You have many opportunities at St. Thomas Law to begin pursuing these fields for your legal career.
IP courses at St. Thomas Law cover the major statutes protecting trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets. Courses also cover related areas of law that may be part of a practice focused on innovation and technology, including privacy law, cybersecurity and entrepreneurship.
Through classroom and experiential courses (clinics, externships and national competition teams), students are introduced to the principles underlying IP and information-privacy law; to practical aspects such as drafting patent and trademark applications, developing cybersecurity policies and handling employee inventions; and to broader issues such as the law's response to new technologies, the interaction of technology and privacy, protecting IP and privacy in other nations and the relationship of IP to social justice and economic development.
Below are examples of some of the courses offered at St. Thomas Law for students interested in pursuing a career in intellectual property or information-privacy law.
Professor Berg is a co-author of the book "Patents on Life: Religious, Moral, and Social Justice Aspects of Biotechnology and Intellectual Property" and he has been a leader in writing on the relationship between global intellectual property and religious thought.
Professor Walz leads the law school's Trademark Clinic. He is a partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Minneapolis where he works with clients on IP-related issues.
Professor Pauly teaches Patent Law. He is an owner at Pauly, DeVries Smith & Deffner LLC in Minneapolis where he provides IP guidance to individual innovators and large companies.
Among Professor Grenardo's areas of expertise is sports law. He has published articles regarding the NCAA Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policy.
Professor Wheaton teaches Privacy and Data Protection. He is the Director of Global Privacy and HIPAA Privacy Officer at LivaNova, PLC, a medical technology company.
Lea Westman coaches the Trademark IP Moot Court Team. She is a Patent Attorney at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner, P.A.
Experiential Learning
Accelerate your professional development and substantive understanding of IP law in a legal externship or clinic. Students at St. Thomas may also volunteer to conduct limited searches of prior art for the Inventor Assistance Program of Legal Corps, which offers help to low-income inventors.
Trademark Clinic
The Trademark Clinic counsels clients regarding trademark matters and drafts and files trademark applications, responses to PTO actions and other related documents.
Business Externship
Gain IP experience through an externship with one of the major corporations or companies that make up the dynamic Twin Cities business community.
Jason Lorfing ’06 J.D., Kory Kotrba ’09 J.D., Scott Pederson ’11 J.D. and Nathan Gallus ’12 J.D. are IP attorneys at Brooks, Cameron, & Huebsch PLLC.
Legal Counsel, Litigation and Investigations, Splunk Inc.
Mentor Externship Program
Each law student is matched with a mentor who complements their interests and professional goals, such as IP law. Our mentors allow students to engage in legal work, professional networking and meaningful reflection.
St. Thomas Law annually participates in three national IP student competitions: the Giles Sutherland Rich IP Moot Court, the Saul Lefkowitz Trademark Moot Court and USPTO National Patent Application Drafting Competition. Each is offered as a credit-earning course for 2Ls and 3Ls. The competitions introduce students to current issues in IP law and help them build their written and oral advocacy and drafting skills.
St. Thomas teams have advanced to the national round of the Rich IP Moot Court competition each year since 2018. In 2020, St. Thomas Law students took first place in the Patent Application Drafting Competition.
Minnesota is home to 15 Fortune 500 corporations, including Target, Best Buy, Cargill, General Mills, 3M and UnitedHealth Group—many of them with headquarters in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul or the surrounding suburbs. Minneapolis has the most Fortune 500 companies per capita of any U.S. metro area. Major industries in Minnesota include medical devices, manufacturing, renewable energy, technology, finance and engineering.
Clubs & Organizations
The St. Thomas Student Intellectual Property Law Association (SIPLA) connects students with the IP and data protection and privacy communities through direct engagement with attorneys working in patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, data protection and privacy.
Further, SIPLA works to educate students in IP and data protection and privacy by supporting IP competitions, promoting classes and building relationships between St. Thomas Law and in the greater legal community.