Cornell NYC Tech has been specifically designed to foster technology entrepreneurship and innovation, and the campus is "what the city needs and what the nation needs."

So said Daniel Huttenlocher, dean of computing and information science and dean of the new tech campus, in his keynote address at the Symposium on Law, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Feb. 8 at the Cornell Club in New York City.

Oskar Liivak, associate professor of law, will soon address the first class of Cornell Tech computer science master of engineering students on patent issues. "They've expressed an interest in learning more about intellectual property. Hopefully, we can help their students and they can help our students." He added, "For me to talk to people on the front lines will be valuable," he said.

At the symposium, academicians and practitioners presented papers on topics including capital markets, intellectual property, venture capital and law and innovation, followed by analysis from a practitioner or a panel of practitioners and scholars. All symposium papers will be published in an upcoming issue of the Cornell Law Review.

Cornell Law Professor Charles K. Whitehead aimed to create a conference that would help students understand "the real world effects of the law" on new business and allow academics and practitioners in the fields of law, business and technology to work together on pressing legal issues that affect innovation and entrepreneurship.

"The Law School will have an important role in both the near and far term in ensuring the success of the tech campus," said Dean Schwab, the Allan R. Tessler Dean of the Law School and professor of law. He said that the Law School is already assisting in educating tech campus students in intellectual property and related issues. In the longer term he said he envisions law students assisting tech campus students and others in applying for patents, creating employment agreements, filing partnership or incorporation documents, and other legal transactions.

"In events like the entrepreneurship symposium, the Law School can be a catalyst in bringing together a diverse group of entrepreneurs, educators, policymakers, and lawyers to examine cutting-edge issues that promote or hinder entrepreneurial success," Schwab said.

Presentation topics included entrepreneurial capital raising, patent law and startup financing. The symposium was sponsored by the Cornell Law Review and the Clarke Business Law Institute.