The Business of Ideas: IP in the Real World

University of Pennsylvania via Coursera

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Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Paid Certificate Available
Duration & workload

3 hours 11 minutes
Sessions

On-Demand
Level

Intermediate
Subtitles

English

Found in

Overview

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Intellectual property (IP) law shapes the way we innovate, create, and share ideas in today’s world. From the brands we buy, to the technology we use, to the music and art we love, IP law sets the rules of protection and use—and those rules are constantly being tested and redefined. In this course, you’ll explore some of the most pressing debates and recent landmark cases in U.S. IP law, across four key domains: trademark, patent, trade secret, and copyright. Guided by real-world controversies and Supreme Court decisions, you’ll learn how courts balance the need to incentivize creativity and innovation with the broader public interest in free expression, competition, and access. By the end of this course, you will be able to: Understand the foundations of U.S. IP law and its role in protecting innovation and expression. Analyze how trademark law interacts with freedom of speech, from scandalous brand names to parody and political commentary. Explain the complexities of patent licensing in technology markets, including the global battles over standards essential patents (SEPs). Evaluate the challenges of protecting trade secrets in fast-moving industries, and the impact of new restrictions on noncompete agreements. Assess how copyright law applies to music, art, and popular culture, including disputes over fair use, sampling, and transformative works. Through engaging case studies—from Jack Daniel’s dog toy parodies, to Microsoft and Motorola’s patent wars, to Taylor Swift’s re-recordings and Andy Warhol’s fair use battle—you’ll gain both a practical and critical understanding of how IP law works in action. Whether you are a professional in law, business, or technology, or simply curious about the rules that govern creativity and commerce, this course will give you the tools to spot IP issues, think like a lawyer, and better understand how the law affects the ideas and products that shape our lives.

Syllabus

Module 1: Intellectual Property Foundations and the Power of Trademarks

In this opening module, you'll explore why intellectual property (IP) matters so deeply to innovation, creativity, and business success. You'll gain a foundational understanding of the U.S. IP system, why it exists, what it protects, and how it balances creators' rights with the public’s interest in expression and access. We’ll then turn to trademarks, the most intuitive IP tool for businesses. Through engaging Supreme Court cases involving scandalous trademarks, parodies, and political speech, we’ll investigate how trademark law collides—and coexists—with the First Amendment. From rock bands to dog toys to political jabs, you’ll see how modern debates test the edges of both trademark protection and free speech in unexpected and entertaining ways.

Module 2: Patents, Standards, and the Global Licensing Puzzle

This module explores one of the most high-stakes and complex arenas in intellectual property today: standard essential patents (SEPs). We’ll begin with an overview of U.S. patent law and the unique licensing obligations SEP owners take on when their technology becomes part of an industry standard. Then we’ll dive deep into the landmark dispute between Microsoft and Motorola, a case that fundamentally reshaped how both courts and companies approach global patent licensing. Along the way, we’ll examine hotly debated topics like fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, injunctions, and international rate-setting. With digital technologies growing more interconnected every day, this case study serves as a powerful lens through which to understand the legal, economic, and geopolitical pressures shaping innovation today.

Module 3: Copyright, Music Infringement, and the Edges of Expression

In this module, we explore how copyright law protects creative expression and how the boundaries of that protection are tested by artists, technologists, and courts alike. You will learn how copyright applies to music, including the dual rights in compositions and sound recordings, and why high-profile disputes involving Taylor Swift, Rick Astley, Pharrell Williams, and Ed Sheeran have captured public attention and sparked legal debate. We will examine how fair use functions as a defense to infringement, with a focus on landmark music and visual art cases, including the Supreme Court's ruling in Warhol v. Goldsmith. Finally, we will consider how copyright is evolving in response to new technologies like AI, and how these tensions reflect the broader challenge of balancing artistic protection with the freedom to build upon the past.

Module 4: Trade Secrets and the Future of Confidential Innovation

In this final module, we turn to trade secrets, the often overlooked but increasingly essential tool in the intellectual property toolkit. You will learn how trade secrets protect valuable commercial information, from proprietary algorithms to customer data, and how the law has evolved to recognize and enforce those protections. Through the story of a high-profile theft involving Google and Uber, we will examine how misappropriation occurs and what companies can do to prevent it. We will then explore the role of contracts, especially noncompete agreements, in trade secret protection and the ongoing legal battle surrounding their enforceability. As regulatory and technological landscapes shift, this module will help you understand how companies can safeguard confidential information while respecting individual rights and fostering innovation.