Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property Receives $250,000 Gift from Google, Inc.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 27, 2013 - American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL) is proud to announce a new gift of $250,000 from Google, Inc., to underwrite the continuation and expansion of the International Intellectual Property Public Interest Research project of AUWCL’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP). The funding will be used to promote the project’s three overarching goals:

• Increase academic research on issues at the intersection of international intellectual property and the public interest;
• Raise public and media attention to the public interest dimension of international intellectual property law; and
• Provide education and technical assistance that promotes intellectual property policy making that is more responsive to public interest objectives.

“We are grateful to Google for continuing its support of the Intellectual Property Public Interest Research Project, which diligently promotes international IP policies that serve the public interest,” said Claudio Grossman, dean, American University Washington College of Law. “This generous award is part of our law school’s robust grant program, one with a long history of supporting innovative initiatives including student research and employment.”

The gift is the latest in a series of support gifts by Google to assist PIJIP’s work. Over the last five years, support from Google, as well as from the International Development Research Centre and Open Societies Foundations, have enabled PIJIP to build and mobilize a series of academic and advocate networks to promote the goals identified above. The networks include the IP-Enforcement Network of over 400 academics and advocates originally formed to provide critical commentary and analysis of leaked texts of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement; the Global Expert Network on Copyright Users Rights formed to develop and justify model text for flexible limitations and exceptions for domestic copyright reform; and www.infojustice.org, a news and analysis blog featuring contributions from nearly 40 bloggers from around the world.

For more information on PIJIP’s work, see www.infojustice.org and www.pijip-impact.org.

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About the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property

American University Washington College of Law’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) offers an unparalleled course of study in the fields of intellectual property and information law. Our balanced and diverse curriculum covers the full range of intellectual property topics, and the law school is home to one of the nation’s first intellectual property legal clinics. Under PIJIP’s auspices, faculty, staff, and students collaborate on research and public impact projects that focus on improving the law and ensuring that the fields of intellectual property and information law are aligned with respect for human rights and the achievement of social justice.

About American University Washington College of Law

In 1896, American University Washington College of Law became the first law school in the country founded by women. More than 100 years since its founding, this law school community is grounded in the values of equality, diversity, and intellectual rigor. The law school's nationally and internationally recognized programs (in clinical legal education, trial advocacy, international law, and intellectual property to name a few) and dedicated faculty provide its 1700 JD, LL.M., and SJD students with the critical skills and values to have an immediate impact as students and as graduates, in Washington, DC and around the world. For more information, visit wcl.american.edu.