J. Jeffrey Hawley Named David Rines Professor of IP Law and Germeshausen Center Director

Franklin Pierce Law Center announces the appointment of J. Jeffrey Hawley as David Rines Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Industrial Innovation, and Director of the Germeshausen Center for the Law of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Professor Hawley comes to Pierce Law after a long and varied career.  On the Eastman Kodak Patent Legal Staff, he became group patent counsel of the Patent Legal Staff Health Group in 1989 and then assistant general counsel, Patent Legal Staff in 1996.  He has served as president of the Rochester Intellectual Property Law Association, Pacific Intellectual Property Association (PIPA) and the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO).  He has been on the Executive Committee of the Association of Corporate Patent Counsel (ACPC) and served as its treasurer. Hawley retired from Eastman Kodak in 2006 and is presently Of Counsel to the Intellectual Property Practice Group of Nixon Peabody LLP.  He is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA).

Professor Hawley is currently teaching the Patent Law course and the International Comparative Patent Law course at Pierce Law. He is also Director of the Intellectual Property Amicus Brief Clinic.

Of his new appointments and his goals for the Germeshausen Center, Hawley says, “The resources at Franklin Pierce Law Center enable the continuation of successful existing programs and services and hopefully the establishment of some exciting new initiatives.  In addition to participating in patent reform and harmonization activities, we will continue to provide world class information and training that will be useful in day-to-day practice.”

Hawley is the third professor to hold the title of David Rines Professor of Intellectual Property at Franklin Pierce Law Center.  Named for a co-founder of the law school, the professorship was held by Homer Blair, 1985-1989 and Karl F. Jorda, 1989 until this year.  The two used their knowledge, experience and natural ambassadorial tendencies to bring Franklin Pierce Law Center to its present preeminence as a global center for intellectual property law.

As David Rines Professor, Hawley will ensure that Franklin Pierce Law Center remains a driving force in the study of international and national intellectual property law and the transfer of technology. 

Hawley's role as director of the Germeshausen Center will include continued expansion of the Center's role as a resource to business as well as scientific, legal and governmental interests in patent, trademark, trade secret, licensing, copyright, computer law and related fields.  Named for one of New England's pioneering inventors and a professor of electrical engineering, the Center seeks to improve the climate for commercialization of technology in the public interest.