Specialization: Law & Technology

​Welcome to the beating heart of Start-Up Nation! Do you have a memory stick? It was invented a few buildings away from our law school, at the Faculty of Engineering at TAU. Do you use online banking? Your bank probably uses a firewall invented in Israel. Does your car have MobilEye installed? That too, was developed nearby, in Jerusalem. There is a reason why Google, Facebook, Intel, HP and other global hi-tech companies have established research centers in Israel. We are in the midst of an information revolution, with Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, and a mobile revolution converging. Our Law & Technology track focuses on the interface of law and technology. The track offers courses on Intellectual Property (IP), cyber and information law, and other related issues.

To complete your specialization in Law & Technology track, you must take at least 14-15 credits of the LL.M.’s 32 required credits, from courses within the Law & Technology track, but you are more than welcome to take as many courses as you see fit – and of course, that fit your schedule. You can focus on IP or on Information Law, or even mix both. You can also choose to take courses from other tracks, in addition to general elective courses.

The professors and courses refer to the 2018-2019 academic year - please be aware that courses and professors change each year.

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Intellectual Property. If you wish to delve into the world of patents, copyright, trade secrets and other IP fields, in the Fall semester, you will be able to take Introduction to IP, co-taught by two leading Israeli specialists, Adv. Tony Greenman, who will make sure you know the fundamentals of copyright law, and Adv. Eran Bareket, who will bring his expertise in patent law. You can study with Prof. Suzy Frankel (Victoria University, New Zealand) Global Issues in Intellectual Property, and with Prof. Yongfan Zhang (Renmin University, China) you can delve into China’s Intellectual Property Law and Its Historical, Cultural and Traditional Aspects. In the Spring Semester, you can study International IP law with Dr. Amir Khoury (TAU Law), and a practical business course on Licensing of IP, taught by Adv. David Mirchin. For those with interest in the arts, you can take Visual Arts & the Law, with Prof. Kurt Siehr (Max Planck Institute, Germany), and Prof. Steven Wilf (University of Connecticut), Trade Secret Law & Information Governance.

Information/Cyber Law. The second leg of the track is information and cyber law. The introductory course is taught in the format of a seminar, Information Technology Law, during the Fall Semester, by the program’s academic director, Prof. Michael Birnhack. The seminar is composed of classes, student lectures, and ultimately, your own original research work. The Law & Information Technology Workshop is a unique TAU Law format of studying, taught by Prof. Michael Birnhack (TAU Law) and Prof. Assaf Jacob (IDC Law). The workshop enables scholars and students to engage directly on academic works in progress: our guests will discuss with us the papers they are working on, eager for your feedback.

You will be able to discuss innovative issues about Digital Free Speech under U.S. Law with Prof. Eugene Volokh (University of California Los Angeles - UCLA). In 2018-19 we offer an innovative course on the business aspects of Start-Up Law, taught by Prof. Ayal Shenhav and Adv. Gal Hoffman. Prof. Margot Kaminski (University of Colorado) will break new paths, and discuss Law of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Finally, Adv. Steven Zipperstein, General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer, BlackBerry, will share his vast experience and teach an Advanced Course on Law and Technology.

This is how it looks, for the techi lawyer:

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