How a tech geek became one of the nation’s leading IP experts

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Watchdog.org:

Ask a friend, a student, or even a colleague about Adam Mossoff, and they might tell you about his appreciation for motorcycles, his collection of Supreme Court bobblehead dolls, or even his love for the original Star Wars Trilogy.

 

He even admits that up until a few months ago, his two children were unaware of the prequel trilogy much-maligned by die-hard Star Wars fans, and they still have yet to see them.

 

“They’ve seen the original trilogy episodes more times than I can probably count,” Mossoff told Watchdog, jokingly calling it a “major parenting achievement.”

 

But his colleagues will also tell you about how he has become one of the most highly respected intellectual property law scholars in the country, tackling the fundamental questions of what constitutes a private property right and what the government’s role is in ensuring that right.

 

A June 2015 study conducted by Ted Sichelman, a law professor at the San Diego School of Law, for example, found that Mossoff’s 2003 article, “What is Property – Putting the Pieces Back Together“, was one of the top 25 cited articles on real property in the last 25 years.

 

Credit: George Mason University

Credit: George Mason University

PROPERTY PROF: Adam Mossoff teaches law at George Mason University School of Law.

As a law professor at George Mason University School of Law, located in Arlington, Virginia, and as the co-founder of the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property, Mossoff’s career keeps him close to the policymakers and lawmakers in the Washington, D.C. area.

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Paul Michel, retired chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in an interview with Watchdog, praised Mossoff’s work as “extraordinarily important” and “nearly heroic,” not only because of his career focus, but also because his message is reaching the right audience through teaching courses and speaking on panels, writing op-eds, filing court briefs, and speaking with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

 

For example, Mossoff — along with 12 other law professors — recently petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court regarding a patent infringement lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard, stating that the Federal Circuit Court ruling contradicted 200 years of Supreme Court and Circuit Court precedents that patents are constitutionally protected private property rights.

 

“He’s talking to the people who make the rules,” said Michel.