Justin Hughes (law professor)

Justin Hughes is an American legal scholar. He 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. As a scholar he has emphasized philosophical and historical issues in intellectual property, focusing on copyright, trademarks, and geographical indications. He led United States delegations to international negotiations on copyright.

Biography
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] then worked on policy at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) [1997-2001]. He taught at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law from 2002 through 2013.

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 Organization (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.