On July 2, 2022, Robert P. Merges, Global Chair Scholar at Peking University Law School, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Professor at the University of California, Berkeley and Founder and Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, gave an online academic lecture on the topic of "History of U.S. Patent Law from an Economic and Commercial Perspective."The lecture was hosted by Bian Renjun, Assistant Professor of the Law School of Peking University, with Li Mingde, Research Fellow of Institute of Law of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Executive Vice Chairman of China Intellectual Property Law Research Association, Cui Guobin, Professor of the Law School of Tsinghua University and Director of the Intellectual Property Law Research Center, and Yang Ming, Professor of the Law School of Peking University serving as the lecture assessors. Nearly 300 faculty and students from and outside Peking University participated in the lecture and the event was received with great response.

Introduction of the Speaker:

Robert P. Merges is Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Law Professor from the University of California, Berkeley and Founder and Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology. Prior to joining Berkeley Law in 1995, he was on the faculty of Boston University Law School, Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, and Visiting Professor at Stanford Law School. He is the author and co-author of numerous books, including Patent Law and Policy: Cases and Materials, Intellectual Property in the New Technology Era, The Legal Protection of Computer Technology, Trademarks, Unfair Competition, and Business Infringement, and The Legitimacy of Intellectual Property. He is a co-founder of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, the intellectual property research focus of Berkeley Law. He is also a co-founder and former director of Ovidia Corp. 

Translated by: Yang Han

Edited by: Li Tianmei