Director, Intellectual Property Institute
Robins Kaplan Distinguished Professorship in IP Law
Professor of Law
Education
B.A., University of California, Berkeley
J.D., University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
LL.M., University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Areas of legal expertise: U.S. and International Intellectual Property Law, Computer and Internet Law, Unfair Trade Practices, Information Privacy Law.
Biography
Professor Sharon K. Sandeen is director of the IP Institute at Mitchell Hamline and an internationally recognized expert on trade secret law, having written three books (with E. Rowe) and more than 25 articles and book chapters on trade secret law and other intellectual property topics, including the first casebook on trade secret law in the United States (Cases and Materials in Trade Secret Law), a book on international trade secret protection (Trade Secrecy and International Transactions), and detailed examinations of the drafting histories of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act and Article 39 of the TRIPS Agreement. She is also the editor of the IP Deskbook for Business Lawyers, now in its third edition.
A native of northern California, Professor Sandeen earned two degrees from the University of California Berkeley; a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a Masters of Law degree from U.C. Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall). She earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, graduating at the top of her class. Her teaching career began in 1996 when she was appointed an adjunct professor at McGeorge. She began full-time teaching in 2002 at Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, now Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
Since 1996, Professor Sandeen has taught an IP survey course at least once a year as well as a variety of other IP courses, including Trademark Law, Copyright Law, Computer & Internet Law, Trade Secret Law, and International Intellectual Property Law. Prior to becoming a professor, she practiced law for more than 15 years in Sacramento, California, first as a general business and IP litigator at the largest law firm in Sacramento and later as an intellectual property specialist at a boutique firm.
Professor Sandeen was elected as a Fellow of the ABA Foundation in 2012. She was elected to membership in the American Law Institute in 2016.
