Integrating Knowledge at Penn Law -- and Beyond

January 5, 2012

Peter Detkin, EE’82, L’85

 

Intellectual property entrepreneur Peter Detkin, EE’82, L’85, is a proud Penn alumnus with degrees from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Penn Law. His generous gifts supporting state-of-the-art and innovative learning environments at both schools are changing the academic landscape at Penn.

In April 2011, Penn dedicated the newly renovated Detkin Electrical Engineering and Systems Laboratory at SEAS, where Peter is a member of the Board of Overseers. Now, thanks to his far-reaching insight and continued generosity, the Law School is establishing a leading-edge learning center at the crossroads of law and technology.

The Detkin Intellectual Property and Technology Legal Clinic will provide Penn students with hands-on experience in how IP is handled in real world cases, from patent infringement to licensing negotiations and more.

Revolutionary in scope, the Detkin Clinic will involve extensive collaboration between Penn Law, Penn’s Center for Technology Transfer, and the Schools of Engineering, Medicine, Arts and Sciences, and Wharton — a cross-disciplinary approach to teaching and research that will prepare Penn Law graduates to effectively navigate an increasingly complex world while moving world-class research and technologies developed at Penn to the marketplace where they may be developed for the public good.

      > support for interdisciplinary research and curricular innovation is critical for sustaining Penn's uniquely broad-based, interdisciplinary approach to research and learning

“My career has been at the intersection of law and technology, and I believe that all business and technology professionals need a solid understanding of intellectual property,” said Detkin. “Inventors need to understand how to secure their rights, and business people, who may or may not be the inventors, need to know what to do with those rights.”

Detkin added: “This clinic will be designed to provide Penn students throughout the University a unique opportunity to learn about how IP is handled in the real world; I'm not aware of any other clinic at another institution that can provide this kind of practical, hands-on experience for when students enter the workplace or start their own companies.”

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