Workshop on Empirical Methods in Intellectual Property
May 27-28, 2025
We are pleased to announce the 2025 Workshop on Empirical Methods in Intellectual Property, co-sponsored by Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Duke Law, and the University of Texas Law School. This year, we are excited to combine two established events—the original Workshop on Empirical Methods in Intellectual Property and the Empirical IP Conference—into a single, unified gathering under the Workshop’s name.
The Workshop will take place at Northwestern in Chicago, IL on May 27-28, 2025.
The first day of the workshop is intended to give scholars engaging in empirical studies of IP a chance to receive feedback on their work at an early stage in their research. Projects using any variety of empirical methods, including experimental methods and qualitative methods, are welcome. Ideal projects for the workshop are in their developmental stages where substantial data collection has not begun. Pilot data collection is, however, appropriate.
To ensure substantial individualized feedback, the workshop will be organized around a modest number of developmental projects. Each project will be assigned to an expert commenter and will be allotted 45 minutes of discussion by the attendees.
On the second day of the workshop, we will host a discussion of several more developed empirical IP projects by senior empirically-focused scholars. Since the authors of those papers will serve as the discussants for the workshop papers, we expect workshop authors will remain for the discussion on the second day.
We welcome applications to present on the first day of the workshop from scholars in social science departments, business schools, and law schools. Domestic travel and lodging support for presenters will be provided.
Applications are due on Friday March 14, 2025.
To apply to present at the workshop, please email wemip2025@law.northwestern.edu with the following information:
- Name
- Institutional Affiliation
- Title of Project
- Description of Project (500-1000 words) including the issues to be addressed and the empirical methods to be employed.
- Acknowledgement that the project will not have reached substantial data collection by the time of the workshop.
We will notify applicants by March 31, 2025.
Please contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you this summer!
Christopher Buccafusco, Duke University Law School
buccafusco@law.duke.edu
David Schwartz, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
david.schwartz@law.northwestern.edu
Melissa Wasserman, University of Texas School of Law
mwasserman@law.utexas.edu