Mark Schultz

Professor Mark F. Schultz is Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Chair in Intellectual Property Law, and Director of the Intellectual Property Program at the University of Akron School of Law. Prior to coming to Akron in 2020, he was a professor at Southern Illinois University School of Law for 16 years and was co-founder and a leader of the Center for Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP) at George Mason University in Washington, D.C., where he remains non-resident Senior Scholar. He also serves as a Senior Fellow of the Geneva Network, a UK-based think tank focused on international IP and health policy.

His research concerns the law and economics of the global intellectual property system, focusing particularly on trade secret law. He worked with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to co-author a groundbreaking global trade secret protection index (the TSPI). The TSPI is being used to frame policy discussions on this cutting-edge topic in capitals around the world. Through the Akron Law IP Center's Global Trade Secret Institute, he co-chairs and organizes an ongoing public-private multilateral diplomatic dialogue on best practices in drafting and implementing national trade secret laws.

As an influential voice in public policy debates regarding intellectual property, he speaks frequently around the world about the connection between secure and effective intellectual property rights and flourishing national economies and individual lives. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on copyright law at the invitation of the House Judiciary Committee and has briefed the staff of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on trade secret legislation. He has spoken at programs hosted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. Copyright Office, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the World Trade Organization, as well as numerous academic institutions, think tanks, and industry groups.

He is frequently called on to help governments and international organizations with IP policy and capacity building. Such projects have included providing training at the invitation of the Government of India's Department of Science and Technology to its technology transfer managers. He also co-authored a guide to using and protecting trade secrets for small and medium enterprises for the Government of India which has been translated into several regional languages and incorporated into training seminars for Indian entrepreneurs.

His research concerns the law and economics of the global intellectual property system, focusing particularly on trade secret law. He worked with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to co-author a groundbreaking global trade secret protection index (the TSPI). The TSPI is being used to frame policy discussions on this cutting-edge topic in capitals around the world. Through the Akron Law IP Center's Global Trade Secret Institute, he co-chairs and organizes an ongoing public-private multilateral diplomatic dialogue on best practices in drafting and implementing national trade secret laws.

As an influential voice in public policy debates regarding intellectual property, he speaks frequently around the world about the connection between secure and effective intellectual property rights and flourishing national economies and individual lives. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on copyright law at the invitation of the House Judiciary Committee and has briefed the staff of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on trade secret legislation. He has spoken at programs hosted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. Copyright Office, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the World Trade Organization, as well as numerous academic institutions, think tanks, and industry groups.

He is frequently called on to help governments and international organizations with IP policy and capacity building. Such projects have included providing training at the invitation of the Government of India's Department of Science and Technology to its technology transfer managers. He also co-authored a guide to using and protecting trade secrets for small and medium enterprises for the Government of India which has been translated into several regional languages and incorporated into training seminars for Indian entrepreneurs.