Seán O’Connor
M.A., Arizona State University
J.D., Stanford Law School
Intellectual Property (Copyright, Patents, Trademarks, Trade Secrets)
Corporate & Securities Law
Start-up and Entrepreneurship Law
Biotechnology Law
Articles & Essays
The Damaging Myth of Patent Exhaustion, 28 Texas Intell. Prop. L.J. 443 (2020)
PDFDistinguishing Different Kinds of Property in Patents and Copyrights, 27 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 205 (2019) (Annual CPIP Symposium Issue)
SSRNThe Surprising Reach of FDA Regulation of Cannabis, Even After Descheduling, 68 Amer. Univ. L. Rev. 823 (2019) (with Erika Lietzan)
WebThe Risks of Clouded Property Title for Cannabis Business Owners, Investors, And Creditors, 3 Texas A&M J. of Prop. L. 67 (2016) (with Jason Liu)
SSRNPatented Electric Guitar Pick-Ups and the Creation of Modern Music Genres, 23 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 1007 (2016) (Annual CPIP Symposium Issue)
SSRNThe Overlooked French Influence on the Intellectual Property Clause, 82 U. Chicago L. Rev. 733 (2015)
SSRNCreators, Innovators, and Appropriation Mechanisms, 22 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 973 (2015) (Annual CPIP Symposium Issue)
SSRNThe Lost “Art” of the Patent System, 2015 U. Illinois L. Rev. 101 (2015)
SSRNCrowdfunding’s Impact on Start-Up IP Strategy, 21 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 895 (2014) (Annual CPIP Symposium Issue)
SSRNThe Real Issue Behind Stanford v. Roche: University Patent Assignment Policies and the Flawed Legacy of the 1947 Biddle Report, 19 Michigan Telecomm. & Tech. L. Rev. 379 (2013)
WebPatents as Promoters of Competition: The Guild Origins of Patent Law in the Venetian Republic, 50 San Diego L. Rev. 1267 (2012) (with Ted Sichelman)
SSRNTaking, Tort, or Crown Right? The Confused Early History of Government Patent Policy, 12 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 145 (2012)
SSRNHired to Invent vs. Work Made for Hire: Resolving the Inconsistency Among Rights of Corporate Personhood, Authorship, and Inventorship, 35 Seattle L. Rev. 1227 (Berle III Symposium) (2012)
SSRNThe Aftermath of Stanford v. Roche: Which Law of Assignments Governs?, 24 Intell. Prop. J. 29 (2011) (CANADA)
SSRNDefusing the “Atomic Bomb” of Patent Litigation: Avoiding and Defending Against Allegations of Inequitable Conduct After McKesson et al, 9 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 330 (2009)
WebTeaching IP From an Entrepreneurial Counseling and Transactional Perspective, 52 Saint Louis Univ. L.J. 877 (IP Teaching Issue) (2008)
SSRNThe Use of MTAs to Control Commercialization of Stem Cell Diagnostics & Therapeutics, 21 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 1017 (2006)
SSRNUsing Stock and Stock Options to Minimize Patent Royalty Payment Risks after MedImmune v. Genentech, 3 N.Y.U. J. L. Bus. 381 (2007)
SSRNRestoring Auditor Independence by Reestablishing Audits as Control and Premium Signaling Mechanisms, 81 Wash. L. Rev. 525 (2006)
SSRNIP Rights and Stem Cell Research: Who Owns the Medical Breakthroughs?, 39 New England L. Rev. 665 (Stem Cell Symposium Issue) (2005)
SSRNThe Supreme Court’s Philosophy of Science: Will the Real Karl Popper Please Stand Up?, 35 Jurimetrics J. 263 (1995)
WebBe Careful What You Wish For: How Accountants and Congress Created the Problem of Auditor Independence, 45 Boston College L. Rev. 741 (2004)
SSRNBooks
Method+ology and the Means of Innovation, (forthcoming Oxford University Press 2026)
Oxford Handbook on Music Law & Policy, (Editor, forthcoming Oxford University Press 2025) (advance chapters available at Oxford Handbooks Online)
5G and Beyond: Intellectual Property and Competition Policy in the Internet of Things, (Editor, Cambridge University Press 2023) (with Jonathan Barnett)
Genetic Technologies and the Law: Cases and Materials, (with Patricia Kuszler and Katherine Batuello) (Carolina Academic Press, 2007)
Contributions to Books
Introduction -- The New Music Ecosystem: From the physical to the virtual and back again?, in Sean M. O’Connor, ed., Oxford Handbook on Music Law & Policy (forthcoming Oxford University Press 2025)
Music as a Continuous Aural Experience: Time for a new music copyright paradigm beyond European written notation, in Sean M. O’Connor, ed., Oxford Handbook on Music Law & Policy (forthcoming Oxford University Press 2025)
Concluding Thoughts: Music Law and Policy for AI, Style, and Aesthetics, in Sean M. O’Connor, ed., Oxford Handbook on Music Law & Policy (forthcoming Oxford University Press 2025)
What is a Music Producer?, in Sean M. O’Connor, ed., Oxford Handbook on Music Law & Policy (Oxford University Press 2024) (chapter available online at Oxford Handbooks Online) (with Count)
The Lead Sheet Problem in Music Copyright: Williams and Skidmore revealed the systematic diminution of pop music’s aural composers, in Steven D. Jamar & Lateef Mtima eds., Handbook of Intellectual Property and Social Justice: Access, Inclusion, Empowerment (Cambridge Univ. Press 2023)
AI Replication of Musical Styles Points the Way to an Exclusive Rights Regime, in Ryan Abbott ed., Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence (Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. 2022)
Determining the Composition, in Sean M. O’Connor, ed., Oxford Handbook on Music Law & Policy (Oxford University Press 2022) (chapter available online at Oxford Handbooks Online) (with Joe Bennett)
The curious contrast between corporate authorship and inventorship in the United States, in Niklas Bruun & Marja-Leena Mansala eds., Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and Employment Law (Edward Elgar Publishing, Ltd. 2021)
Authors and Inventors Under U.S. IP Law: Implications for Software and AI Generated Works, in Amélie Favreau ed., La Properiété Intellectuelle en dehors de ses Frontières (Larcier Belgium 2019) (with Franck Macrez)
The Promises and Perils of Digital Business Models, in Global Perspectives and Challenges for the Intellectual Property System Publication Series (CEIPI-ICTSD 2018)
Transforming Professional Services to Build Regional Innovation Ecosystems, in Megan Carpenter ed., Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Evolving Economies: The Role of Law (Edward Elgar Publishing, Ltd. 2012)
Controlling the Means of Innovation: The Centrality of Private Ordering Arrangements for Innovators and Entrepreneurs, in Robert Litan ed., Handbook on Law, Innovation and Growth (Edward Elgar Publishing, Ltd., 2011)
The Central Role of Law as a Meta Method in Creativity and Entrepreneurship, in Shubha Ghosh, ed., Law, Creativity & Entrepreneurship (Edward Elgar Publishing, Ltd., 2011)
Navigating the Issues of Multidisciplinary Student Teams Serving University Spin-offs, in Gary D. Libecap et al., eds., Spanning Boundaries and Disciplines: University Technology Commercialization in the Idea Age (Emerald Books 2010)
U.S. Perspective on IP and Antitrust Issues in Proposed Biosimilars Regulatory Pathway, in Clotilde Jourdain-Fortier et Isabelle Moine-Dupuis, Les Pratiques de L’Industrie Pharmaceutique au Regard du Droit de la Concurrence (LexisNexis Litec 2010) (FRANCE)
IP Transactions as Facilitators of the Globalized Innovation Economy, in Rochelle Dreyfuss, Diane L. Zimmerman, and Harry First, eds., Working Within the Boundaries of Intellectual Property (Oxford University Press, 2010)
Enabling Research or Unfair Competition? De Jure and De Facto Research Use Exceptions in Major Technology Countries, in Toshiko Takenaka ed., Patent Law And Theory: A Handbook Of Contemporary Research (Edward Elgar Publishing, Ltd., 2008)
La Legislación Como Impulsora De Las Innovaciones Tecnológicas Y Su Comercialización, in Jorge Aguirre Hernández & Roberto Garza-Leonard eds., Propiedad Industrial Certidumbre Juridica Y Competitividad (Fondo Editorial, Nuevo Leon & Universidad de Monterrey, 2005) (MEXICO)