Intellectual Property and Legal Essentials for Innovators & Entrepreneurs

Navigate the complex world of IP law to protect and commercialize your innovations

image (19)

Taught by

Anita Choi

Partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP

Time

April 15 - May 13, 2025

Tuesdays, 4:00 - 6:00pm PT

Location

Live, Online

Price

$795

Enrollment Deadline

April 7, 2025

Intellectual Property and Legal Essentials for Innovators & Entrepreneurs

Navigate the complex world of IP law to protect and commercialize your innovations

image (19)

Taught by

Anita Choi

Partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP

Time

April 15 - May 13, 2025

Tuesdays, 4:00 - 6:00pm PT

Enrollment Deadline

April 7, 2025

Price

$795

Location

Live, Online

Course Overview

This comprehensive course delivers essential intellectual property and legal knowledge for innovators and entrepreneurs in the technology space. Through a dynamic mix of lectures, interactive workshops, and real-world case studies, you'll master the fundamentals of IP law with special emphasis on patent issues, technology developments, and licensing strategies. Working directly with industry experts and experienced entrepreneurs, you'll gain practical knowledge about IP protection, due diligence, and startup formation—essential skills for launching and protecting your ventures.

What You Get

Group 92

Hands-on experience with patent drafting and claim writing

Group 93

Industry-specific IP strategies for both life sciences and technology companies

Group 94

Practical templates and frameworks for IP protection and licensing

Group 95

Official Berkeley Engineering certificate that validates your expertise

Group 96

LinkedIn certification to showcase your newly acquired growth marketing expertise

Join the next generation of successful founders – enrollment closes soon!

Who Should Attend

    This course is ideal for scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs—or anyone passionate about innovation at the intersection of technology and business.

What People Say

image (10)

Jessica Schwabach

CEO and Co-Founder, Sundial

This course is strategically valuable for any startup, especially for technical founders who don't have a background in IP strategy. The fundamentals gained in this course will give any scientist-turned-entrepreneur the fundamental understanding they need to build a strong patent strategy going forward.

Accelerate your startup journey, secure your spot today

Course Schedule

Accordion with Empty-Field Hiding
Week 1, April 15, IP 101

  • Introduction to Intellectual Property Law
    • Why does IP matter?
    • What are the different types of IP?
      • Copyright, trademarks, trade secrets, patents
    • A deeper dive into patents
      • Types of patents
      • Patents vs. patent applications
      • Patentability requirements
      • Patenting process
  • Week 2, April 22, Patent Strategy and Drafting

  • Parts of a Patent
  • Taking an "Invention Disclosure" – How to work with patent lawyers?
  • How to strategically think about patenting your invention
  • Who should be named as an inventor?
  • A note about federally funded inventions
  • Claim Drafting Exercise
  • Week 3, April 29, IP Survey Across Industries

  • Biotech, Pharma, Medical Devices, Diagnostics
  • AI/ML, Software, Robotics & Engineering
  • Week 4, May 6, Monetizing IP

  • Patent Licenses, Including a Discussion of University Technology Transfer
  • Commercial Transactions
  • Week 5, May 13, Venture Capital Playbook

  • Corporate Formation
  • Raising Money
  • Due Diligence
  • *This schedule is subject to change

    Meet your Instructor

    image (20)

    Anita Choi

    Anita Choi has decades of experience providing strategic advice to companies and investors in the Life Sciences and Food + Agriculture industries. She has helped start-up companies build IP portfolios around their core technologies, and counseled them on issues related to patents versus trade secrets. She has worked with larger, more established companies to manage global patent portfolios in a way that integrates IP with their business models. Combining her legal and business expertise enables her to navigate complex challenges that require complex solutions hence why she is so often called upon by clients to help with assessing, building and strengthening patent portfolios.  She has also counseled investors in IP due diligence, identifying critical issues that may affect valuation and risk assessment in deals.

    Resources

    Protecting Your Ideas & Innovations: IP Fundamentals

    Protecting Your Ideas and Innovations at UC Berkeley Startup Studio: IP Fundamentals with Anita Choi

    This spring, Anita Choi, Partner at Morrison & Foerster, will be teaching a course titled Intellectual Property and Legal Essentials for Innovators & Entrepreneurs, designed to guide AI founders, product managers, marketing professionals, and business leaders through the complexities of the intellectual property landscape. A chemist by training, Choi transitioned…

    Join the #1 global hub for successful founders and startups

    Gain direct connections to Berkeley's renowned innovation pipeline

    #1

    Public University

    #1

    Number of Venture-Backed Startups

    #4

    in Most Successful Founders

    1383

    Startups

    Source: PitchBook, 2024

    Transform your startup journey with Berkeley's
    world-class entrepreneurial program.