Intellectual Property Securitization

Date: February 9, 2015 (Monday)

Time: 12:30pm-1:30pm

Venue: Room 723, 7/F, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, HKU

Speaker: Dr Miriam Bitton, Law Professor, Bar-Ilan University School of Law in Israel

Abstract:
This seminar aims to explore the securitization of intellectual property, introducing the promise of said financing method in the growing field of intellectual property. In recent years, intellectual property has become a major component of developed economics. Raising funds for research, development, and the creation of new inventions and works of authorship has never been an easy task. This seminar, therefore, presents a review of securitization in the field of intellectual property and in doing so makes a few major contributions. It offers a thorough discussion of securitization, its benefits, and its prominence over more traditional methods of financing, such as bank lending, issuance of corporate bonds, and venture capital funding. Next, it offers an account of the current use and scope of securitization in relation to intellectual property assets such as trademarks, copyrights, and patents. The seminar also considers the benefits and challenges of securitizing intellectual property and suggests preliminary solutions to these challenges.

Biography:
Dr. Miriam Bitton is a law professor at Bar-Ilan University School of Law in Israel. She received her Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws degrees at Bar-Ilan University School of Law, as well as another Master of Laws at University of Michigan Law School and a Doctor of the Science of Law at Michigan. A former Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at DePaul University College of Law, Miami University School of Law, and Ohio State University School of Law, she was also the Microsoft Research Fellow at U.C. Berkeley School of Law and a Visiting Fellow at George Washington University Law School. Dr. Bitton is writing and teaching in the fields of intellectual property law, law and technology, and property. Her articles were published in major journals in Israel, the U.S. and Europe. She is the winner of the prestigious Alon Fellowship for the years 2009-2011 (granted by the Council of Higher Education in Israel to promising junior faculty members in Israel), the 100,000 EUROs Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant (granted by the European Union Commission), and the Zeltner Award for Junior Legal Scholars granted annually to one junior promising legal scholar in Israel by the Rotary Foundation and Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law (2013). Dr. Bitton’s current research agenda is focused on Israeli and American patent law and criminal enforcement of intellectual property law.