Josh Landau
Joshua Landau is Senior Counsel on Innovation Policy at the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), where he represents and advises the association regarding patent issues. In 2022, Landau was a presenter for the Patents & the Public Interest Speaker Series, hosted by Professor Charles Duan, at American University Washington College of Law, where Landau now teaches Intellectual Property Law.
“It will be okay. Try and relax a little bit. Try and enjoy the time you have now.”
When did you become interested in IP Law?
My interest in IP law began when I was an undergraduate student studying engineering at the University of Michigan. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act was first passed, and I was working at the college radio station as a student manager. My team and I had to figure out the logistics of web streaming for the radio station. That’s when my interest in copyright technology began. After college, I worked for a few years and got a patent. I knew that if I wanted to continue with his career, I would have to go back to school but I wasn’t sure if engineering was the right choice. Around that time, the SCO-Linux dispute was also happening, and that led me to law school.
What did you do at law school?
I went to Georgetown. While there, I took every IP class I could. At the time, I didn’t know which area of IP law I would eventually practice in, but I had a sneaking suspicion about patent law. Aside from that, I participated in Moot Court, a trademark competition, did sound design for the student theatre group, and participated in a journal. During my 3L year, I had a clerkship with [former] Senator Franken who just started his Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. I continued with this clerkship even after I graduated. It gave me a first-hand experience of politics and policy. The clerkship probably led very directly into what I’m doing now, which is very much on the policy of things.
Would you do law school again?
Would I do it again? I’m happy with where I wound up. Were there challenges along the way? Absolutely. But I like what I do, and I had a great experience with law school.
What area of law intersects with your practice area the most?
I focus mainly on patent law. But I also get involved in copyright, publicity, and trademark cases. My work also involves AI, a huge issue with IP and other areas of law. Surprisingly, the area of law that intersects with my work the most is administrative law.
How does your work interact with administrative law?
The intersection between IP and administrative law has seen many admin lawsuits against the patent office over the past decade (and I expect more is coming) and copyright small claims court. My team looks at administrative legal proposals, identifies problems, and suggests alterations to address those problems. These challenges are also present in my IP legal practice. I think it is very hard to be a lawyer in the American legal system without having a basic understanding of administrative law and certainly to be an IP lawyer.
What advice would you give to current law students?
Go to more talks led by professionals in their respective fields! Especially getting to know professors by going to their office hours (this is not because I only want my students to go to mine *laughs*). It’s not really networking but the best “networking” I have done was talking to people who had the same interests as me or listening to someone talk about their interests and find out about something I never thought I would be interested in. Students should take classes that genuinely interest them instead of only taking classes that they believe would help them with the bar exam. And get more sleep!