Prof. Llewellyn Gibbons accepts University's Outstanding Research and Scholarship Award
May 23, 2013
Llewellyn Joseph Gibbons, a professor of law who has been teaching at The University of Toledo since 1998,
has been named the winner of one of three Outstanding Research and Scholarship Awards
presented by the University this year. The award recognizes outstanding research,
scholarship, and creative activity on UT’s multi-campus university.
Professor Gibbons attributes his success to a culture at the College of Law that encourages research and scholarship. “I am extremely proud to follow in the footsteps of such distinguished Toledo Law scholars as Rebecca Zietlow, Susan Martyn, and William Richman,” he said.
Gibbons’s scholarship is at the intersection of law, contract, and technology. A
pioneering professor in the area of cyberlaw, he penned one of the first law review
articles to review the theoretical legal principles on which the Internet could be
governed.
“Llew Gibbons has compiled an enviable record of scholarship in intellectual property law, often on the cutting-edge of emerging issues,” said Daniel J. Steinbock, dean of the College of Law. “He has also been a tremendous resource for the University and the community on intellectual property topics.”
Professor Gibbons’s recent scholarship focuses on the response of law to breakthrough technologies as well as the role of the international intellectual property regime in promoting global economic development. His article titled “Crowdsourcing A Trademark: What The Public Giveth, The Courts May Taketh Away,” published in Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal this year, examines the use of social media to "bestow" trademarks on often unwilling recipients and whether the crowdsourcing of a trademark creates legal rights in that designation.
Over his career to date, Professor Gibbons has published 25 law review articles, three book chapters, and one encyclopedia entry. He has also co-authored a treatise on trademark law, and he and his coauthor are writing a book on intellectual property licensing that will be submitted in August 2013. Professor Gibbons is also at work on a book on trademark myths and the law.
As a Fulbright scholar and after having delivered invited lectures in Argentina, England, China, Finland, Hong Kong, Italy, and Singapore, Professor Gibbons has earned an international reputation. His articles have been republished in India, and translated into Chinese and Japanese. He is also a fellow at the Center for the Study of Intellectual Property Rights at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan, China and an elected member of the American Law Institute.
The other two recipients of this year’s Outstanding Research and Scholarship Awards are Jane Bradley, professor of English and director of creative writing in the College of Languages, Literature and Social Sciences, and Dr. Stanislaw M. Stepkowski, professor of medical microbiology and immunology in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences. All three recipients were honored at a reception in the Ingman Room at the Student Union on April 22, 2013.