Justin Hughes (law professor)
Quick Facts
Biography
Justin Hughes is the William H. Hannon Professor of Law at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where he teaches courses in intellectual property law, international trade, and internet law. He taught at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law from 2002 through 2013.
After obtaining his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard University in 1986, Hughes spent time as a Luce Scholar, clerking for the Lord President of the Supreme Court of Malaysia [1988-89] as well as doing policy work at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) [1997-2001]. In 2009, the Obama administration tapped him to become a part-time adviser. In that position, he began heading US delegations to meetings of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). At a December 2009 meeting of the WIPO, he announced a significant shift in US policy in international copyright law that resulted in Brazil, Mexico, the US and European Union leading efforts to establish exceptions in international copyright law for the blind. Along with delegates from India and Mexico, he also successfully resuscitated efforts to finish the long dormant WIPO Audiovisual Performers Treaty. Hughes led the US delegations that completed both that treaty, now frequently called the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances (2012) and the Marrakesh Treaty for the Blind (2013). He is widely credited with having been instrumental in the negotiation of both multilateral treaties.
As a scholar, Hughes is known for his emphasis on philosophical and historical issues in intellectual property, focusing on copyright, trademarks, and geographical indications.