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Longtime register of copyrights to speak at Drake

photo of Ralph Oman
Ralph Oman

Ralph Oman, former register of copyrights, will headline the Drake Intellectual Property Law Center’s first distinguished lecture in intellectual property law Tuesday, April 22. The talk is free and open to the public and will begin at 4:30 p.m. in room 201 of Cartwright Hall.

In his lecture, Oman will discuss the role of the U.S. Copyright Office and the possibility of a major revision of the copyright law.

Oman, a member of the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court bars, began his career as a law clerk for a U.S. District Court judge for the District of Maryland. He then became a trial attorney with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

In 1975, Oman moved to the U.S. Senate, where he worked as chief minority counsel, senior lawyer and chief counsel for the Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights.

Oman was register of copyrights from 1985-93. His highest priority was increasing the international protection of American copyrights. He established the International Copyright Institute to train foreign copyright officials.

He was counsel for the intellectual property practice group of the law firm Dechert, LLP and is currently the Pravel, Hewitt, Kimball and Kreiger Professorial Lecturer in Intellectual Property and Patent Law at The George Washington University Law School, for which he has been an adjunct professor since 1993.

Oman holds a Doctor of Law degree from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College.

Drake’s Intellectual Property Law Center will also host these upcoming events:

  • a one-of-its-kind summer institute on intellectual property, biotechnology and agricultural sciences on May 19-20
  • a major conference in Hong Kong on the latest Internet developments in China on June 13-14
  • an international conference in Turku, Finland on innovation and communications law on July 17-18

The Intellectual Property Law Center at Drake University offers an innovative curriculum, providing students with a solid foundation in both the theoretical and practical aspects of intellectual property law.