Mike Schuster

Mike Schuster joined the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia as an Assistant Professor of Legal Studies in 2019. Professor Schuster’s research focuses on intellectual property and empirical legal studies. His research has appeared in a variety of academic journals, including the the Southern California Law Review, Alabama Law Review, UC Davis Law Review, and American Business Law Journal.

Professor Schuster has held prior academic positions at the University of Michigan and Oklahoma State University. Before entering academia, Schuster was an attorney at the law firm of Vinson & Elkins LLP in Houston, Texas, where he specialized in intellectual property.

• LLM, Trade Regulation, New York University School of Law, 2009
• JD, South Texas College of Law, 2007
• BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Texas, 2002

• Patent law
• Copyright law
• Trademark law
• Empirical legal studies

Journal Articles

• The Patent Examiner Sweepstakes, 60 American Business L.J. __ (forthcoming)
• The Hidden Cost of University Patents, 20 Berkeley Business L.J. __ (forthcoming), with CJ Ryan and B Frye
• Measuring Fair Use’s Market Effect, 2022 Wisconsin L. Rev. 1467 (2022), with S. Bedi
• Cannabis Derivatives and Trademark Registration, 98 Indiana L.J. 177 (2022)
• The Gender Gap in Academic Patenting, 56 UC Davis L. Rev. 759 (2022), with D. Gerhardt and M. Marcowitz-Bitton
• An Empirical Analysis of Patent Citation Relevance and Applicant Strategy, 59 American Business L.J. 231 (2022), with K. Valentine
• Functional Wordmarks, 19 Berkeley Business L.J. 289 (2022)
• Information Theory and Patent Documents, 55 Akron L. Rev. 379 (2022) (invited symposium piece)
• An Empirical Study of Gender and Race in Trademark Prosecution, 54 Southern California L. Rev. 1407 (2022), with D. Gerhardt and M. Marcowitz-Bitton
• Colluding Against a Patent, 2021 Wisconsin L. Rev. 537 (2021), with G. Day
• Legal Strategy During Legal Uncertainty: The Case of Cannabis Regulation, 26 Stanford J. of Law, Business & Finance 362 (2021), with R. Bird
• Towards an Objective Measure of Trademark Fame, 54 UC Davis L. Rev. 431 (2020), with S. Bedi
• An Empirical Study of Patent Grant Rate as a Function of Race and Gender, 57 American Business L.J. 281 (2020), with E. Davis, K. Schley, and J. Ravenscraft
• Copyright and Joint Authorship as a Disruption of the Video Game Streaming Industry, 2020 Columbia Business L. Rev. 942 (2020), with J. Holden
• Patent Inequality, 71 Alabama L. Rev. 115 (2019), with G. Day
• Artificial Intelligence and Patent Ownership, 75 Washington & Lee L. Rev. 1945 (2019)
• Sampling Increases Music Sales: An Empirical Copyright Study, 56 American Business L.J. 177 (2019), with D. Mitchell and K. Brown
• The Sham of Integrity Fees in Sports Betting, 16 NYU J. of Law & Business 31 (2019), with J. Holden
• Public Choice Theory, the Constitution, and Public Understanding of the Copyright System, 51 UC Davis L. Rev. 2247 (2018)
• Entrepreneurship and Legal Uncertainty: Unexpected Federal Trademark Registrations for Marijuana Derivatives, 55 American Business L.J. 117 (2018), with J. Wroldsen
• Invalidity Assertion Entities and Inter Partes Review: Rent Seeking as a Tool to Discourage Patent Trolls, 51 Wake Forest L. Rev. 1163 (2017)
• Rent-Seeking and Inter Partes Review: An Analysis of Invalidity Assertion Entities in Patent Law, 22 Michigan Telecomm. & Tech. L. Rev.  271 (2016)
• Fair Use, Girl Talk, and Digital Sampling: An Empirical Study of Music Sampling’s Effect on the Market for Copyrighted Works, 67 Oklahoma L. Rev. 443 (2015)
• Fair Use and Licensing of Derivative Fiction: A Discussion of Possible Latent Effects of the Commercialization of Fan Fiction, 55 S. Texas L. Rev. 529 (2014, invited contribution)
• Claim Construction and Technical Training: An Empirical Study of the Reversal Rates of Technically Trained Judges in Patent Claim Construction Cases, 29 Quinnipiac L. Rev. 887 (2011)
• Predictability and Patentable Processes: The Federal Circuit’s In re Bilski Decision and Its Effect on the Incentive to Invent, 11 Columbia Sci. & Tech. L. Rev. 1 (2009)
• For the Greater Good:  The Use of Public Policy Considerations in Confirming Chapter 11 Plans of Reorganization, 46 Houston L. Rev. 467 (2009)
• Subjective Intent in the Determination of Antitrust Violations by Patent Holders, 49 S. Texas L. Rev. 507 (2007, comment)

• 2022 Best Interdisciplinary Paper Award (Academy of Legal Studies in Business) 
• 2022 Terry College of Business Outstanding Teacher Award
• 2021 Best Interdisciplinary Paper Award (Academy of Legal Studies in Business)
• 2019 Southeastern Academy of Legal Studies in Business Junior Scholar Award
• 2019 Best Sports and Entertainment Law Paper (Academy of Legal Studies in Business)
• 2019 Southeastern Academy of Legal Studies in Business Award for Best Proceedings Paper
• 2018-19 Richard W. Poole Research Excellence Award 
• 2017-18 Richard W. Poole Research Excellence Award 
• Finalist, 2017 Holmes-Cardozo Award 
• 2007 Houston Intellectual Property Law Association Fellowship

• Associate Attorney, Vinson & Elkins LLP (Houston, Texas),
• Law Clerk to the Honorable Kenneth Hoyt, U.S. District Court, S.D. Tex. (Houston, Texas),
• Law Clerk to the Honorable Jeff Bohm, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Tex. (Houston, Texas),