Professor Peter Lee

Peter Lee is the Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at UC Davis School of Law. He teaches and writes in the field of intellectual property law, particularly focusing on patent law, innovation, and technology transfer. His current scholarship explores the institutional context of innovation and the intersection of intellectual property law and the structure of innovative and creative industries. His scholarship has appeared in The Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, California Law Review, Duke Law Journal, Michigan Law Review, and other leading journals. Professor Lee has received numerous awards for his scholarly work, including the UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellowship, the Samsung-Stanford Patent Prize, and inclusion in West/Thomson’s annual Intellectual Property Law Review. He has held visiting or invited positions at the University of Oxford, Seoul National University, and Melbourne Law School, and he speaks widely on intellectual property matters in the United States and abroad. 

Professor Lee received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, where he studied the history and philosophy of science. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was a member of The Yale Law Journal. Professor Lee joined the UC Davis faculty after clerking for Judge Barry G. Silverman of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

At UC Davis, he teaches Intellectual Property, Patent Law, Copyright, Trademark and Unfair Competition Law, International Intellectual Property and Development, Innovation and Technology Transfer, and Property. Professor Lee received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2016.