​The University of California, Los Angeles is organizing a workshop on Intellectual Property Law titled "The Piracy Paradox: Copying & Creativity in the Fashion Industry".

The workshop will be presented by Prof. Kal Raustiala, Promise Institute Distinguished Professor of Comparative and International Law at UCLA Law and Director of the UCLA Ronald W. Burkle Center for International Relations.

The lecture will be followed by a presentation on UCLA Law's LL.M. program by Ms. Tiffany Parnell, Assistant Director of International Programs at UCLA Law.

​Description

​The foundation of intellectual property rights is the belief that innovation and creativity require secure property rights to reward inventors and creators.

But if this is true, how does the fashion industry exist? The global fashion market is enormous, yet the core of fashion—the design—is not protectable in many jurisdictions, most notably the U.S. This talk explains the unusual relationship between IP and innovation in fashion, and argues that the case of fashion suggests that IP rights are not nearly as critical as commonly thought.

​About the presenters

​Prof. Kal Raustiala is a distinguished figure in the realms of international law and relations, currently serving as the Promise Institute Distinguished Professor of Comparative and International Law at UCLA Law School. He also holds positions as a Professor at the UCLA International Institute and as the Director of the UCLA Ronald W. Burkle Center for International Relations.

​Professor Raustiala's scholarly work is broad and influential, focusing on international law, international relations, and intellectual property. He has an impressive record of publications in prestigious journals and books. Notable among his recent works are “Why the United Nations Still Matters” in Foreign Affairs (June 2023), “The Fight Against China’s Bribe Machine” (October 2021), and his books such as “Global Governance in a World of Change” (Cambridge, 2021) and “The Knockoff Economy: How Imitation Sparks Innovation” (Oxford, 2012). In addition, his biography of Ralph Bunche, “The Absolutely Indispensable Man”, was published in 2023 by Oxford. Beyond his writings, Professor Raustiala has been a visiting professor at several prestigious universities globally and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Tiffany Parnell is Assistant Director of International Programs at UCLA School of Law in Los Angeles, California. She joined UCLA Law in 2009 after earning both her B.S. in Economics (2008) and M.S.Ed. in Higher Education Management (2009) at the University of Pennsylvania. Her expertise includes alumni relations, international recruitment and outreach, marketing, bar exam and student support, university partnerships and collaborations, and more.