The Innovation, Business and Law Center continues its series "Examining Institutional Structures: Race, Business and the Law" with the Spring 2021 Distinguished Speaker Series.

Shubha Ghosh

Crandall Melvin Professor of Law

Director, IP & Technology Commercialization Law Curricular Program

Syracuse Intellectual Property Law Institute (SIPLI)

Syracuse University College of Law

Title:  Promoting Equal Protection--Congress' Remedial Powers Under the Copyright & Patent Clause

Several distinguished scholars have addressed the racial and gender inequities within the intellectual property system.  This presentation examines the reform proposals that have recently emerged from this scholarship within Equal Protection analysis.  Professor Ghosh makes the case that the constitutionality of these proposals should be assessed through Congressional power to promote science and useful arts. Congress' remedial powers under the Copyright & Patent Clause, as developed in Golan v Holder, supports equitable reform proposals against an Equal Protection-based challenge. The article's analysis demonstrates how "progress" within Article One, Section 8, Clause 8 includes various theories of social justice.