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An ���ϲ����� Law scholar who specializes in intellectual property recently spoke with a North Carolina news organization about a popular type of beach shade for a story since republished in a national online magazine.

Professor David S. Levine was quoted in a story that first appeared on June 27 in The Assembly.

The report by Johanna F. Still explored the rise of Shibumi Shades, a shoreline alternative to traditional beach umbrellas first introduced by three friends in North Carolina. Annual sales are now in the millions of dollars and The Assembly’s coverage explored the way Shibumi uses patent law to limit possible competition.

From the report ():

David Levine, a professor at the ���ϲ����� School of Law specializing in intellectual property law, said patents are the government’s way of protecting innovation by granting inventors monopoly power. (Levine did not personally review the Shibumi cases or patents.)

Some critics say the government issues far too many patents, but regardless, once one is awarded, it’s “born valid,” Levine said. In general, initiating patent infringement lawsuits can be risky, he said—akin to “putting your patent up for inspection.”

“The question becomes, is it even worthy of a patent in the first instance?” he said.

Levine joined the ���ϲ����� Law faculty in 2009 and has developed an international reputation for his legal research. An affiliate scholar at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School, he also was a fellow at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy from 2014-2017.

He co-authored the 2019 textbook “Information Law, Governance, and Cybersecurity.” In recognition of his scholarly work, Levine was named the Jennings Professor and Emerging Scholar at ���ϲ����� Law for 2017-2019. Most recently,

Levine was recently named a fellow at the University of Milan’s Information Society Law Center.