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photo of Ralph Oman
Ralph Oman

Longtime register of copyrights to speak at Drake

Ralph Oman, former register of copyrights, will headline
Drake Intellectual Property Law Center’s first Distinguished Lecture in
Copyright 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 offers an innovative
curriculum, providing students with a solid foundation in both the theoretical
and practical aspects of intellectual property law.

Read more about the center and its director online.