Education runs on intellectual property and data. Universities generate inventions and course content, edtech companies build platforms that handle student records, and vendors sell software, content, and services to institutions bound by federal privacy and accessibility rules. The legal issues cross from the lab to the classroom to the procurement office: who owns a faculty member's invention or online course, whether a learning platform's data practices satisfy FERPA, and what a district contract requires when a vendor has a breach. We are a litigation and transactional firm focused on intellectual property, technology, and business disputes, and we represent institutions and the companies that serve them. Our technical background helps us understand the platforms and research we are protecting.
Institutions, Edtech, And Vendors
Our education work covers higher education and the market around it. Higher education, which has its own page, covers colleges, universities, and research institutions, with work on sponsored research, technology transfer and licensing, campus IP and faculty rights, and the governance and compliance questions specific to academic institutions. Edtech covers companies building learning management systems, assessment and tutoring platforms, AI-driven learning tools, and student information systems for K-12 schools, universities, and adult learners. Education-sector vendors include online program managers, courseware publishers, testing and proctoring providers, and software and services companies selling to schools and districts. Each group faces its own version of the same questions about ownership, data, and contracts, and we work with both institutions and the vendors that serve them.
Privacy, Accessibility, And Funding Rules
A distinct set of federal rules applies in education. FERPA governs education records at schools receiving federal funds and limits what vendors can do with data they receive under the school official exception. COPPA applies to online services directed to children under 13, and the FTC's amended COPPA rule tightens consent and data retention requirements. Many states add student privacy laws, such as California's SOPIPA and New York's Education Law 2-d, that impose contract terms on vendors. Accessibility obligations under the ADA and Section 504 reach websites, apps, and course materials. Institutions participating in federal student aid under Title IV must follow the incentive compensation ban, which shapes revenue-sharing arrangements with online program managers. Section 117 of the Higher Education Act requires reporting of foreign gifts and contracts.
Campus IP And Technology Disputes
Intellectual property is central to education even when no one calls it that. Faculty inventions from federally funded research are subject to the Bayh-Dole Act, which lets universities elect title subject to disclosure deadlines and government license rights, and the Supreme Court held in Stanford v. Roche that inventor assignments still control. Course materials raise ownership questions under institutional policies and the work made for hire doctrine, and online courses add licensing and revenue issues. Teaching uses of copyrighted works rely on fair use and the TEACH Act, both of which have limits. Edtech companies face the same software, open source, and data ownership issues as any technology company. Disputes arise when ownership lines are unclear, when a licensee fails to commercialize, or when a platform underdelivers.
Disputes And Litigation
We represent education clients in contract, IP, and technology disputes in federal and state court and in arbitration. For institutions, that includes disputes with licensees over royalties and diligence obligations, ownership disputes with faculty and former researchers, copyright claims involving course content, and claims against technology vendors whose systems failed or whose data practices breached the contract. For edtech companies and vendors, that includes disputes with customers over contract performance and payment, trade secret and non-compete claims involving former employees, software licensing disputes, and defense of privacy class actions and regulatory inquiries following a breach or alleged misuse of student data. We also handle athletics matters involving name, image, and likeness rights and the sponsorship agreements that come with college sports.
Research, Licensing, And Vendor Agreements
For institutions, we negotiate sponsored research agreements with industry, material transfer and data use agreements, exclusive and nonexclusive technology licenses and option agreements, and startup licenses that take equity. We draft and update IP policies covering inventions, course content, and software, and we review technology procurement contracts for privacy, security, and accessibility terms. For edtech companies and vendors, we draft customer agreements for schools, districts, and universities, data privacy agreements that satisfy FERPA and state student privacy laws, terms of service and privacy policies, content licenses, and partnership and revenue-share agreements with institutions. We also counsel edtech companies on AI features, including training data rights and the disclosures schools increasingly require before they adopt a product.
How We Work With Schools
Education matters often involve committees, procurement rules, and academic calendars, so we plan around them. For institutions, we work with technology transfer offices, general counsel, and research administrators, and we align our drafting with existing policies and templates instead of starting over. For edtech companies and vendors, we start with the product and the customer, since a contract with a large public university looks different from one with a single charter school. We confirm scope and cost in writing before starting. In disputes, we gather the data logs, contracts, and communications early, and we explain the technology to the decision-maker in terms that hold up. You work directly with the attorneys handling the matter from start to finish.
Flat Fees And Clear Estimates
We price defined work as flat-fee products with a fixed price, a stated scope, and a set turnaround. In education, that includes NDAs and material transfer agreements, privacy policies and terms of service for edtech products, standard data privacy agreements, copyright registration for courseware, and trademark registration. Negotiated licenses, sponsored research agreements with unusual terms, investigations, and litigation are scoped and estimated in writing before we begin. The estimate states what it covers and what could change it. For institutions working within annual budgets and startups watching their runway, knowing the cost in advance makes legal work easier to approve and easier to schedule.
