Photograph of Professor Christine Haight Farley

Christine Haight Farley

Professor of Law

Office: Room 346
 Phone: 202-274-4171
E-mail: vCard


Christine Haight Farley is a Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law. She teaches Intellectual Property Law, Trademark Law, International and Comparative Trademark Law, International Intellectual Property Law and Art Law. Professor Farley served as Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs from 2007 to 2011 and as Co-Director of the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property from 2005 to 2009. She is the author of numerous articles on intellectual property law and her casebook on international trademark law will be published this year. Professor Farley has taught at the University of Puerto Rico, the University of Paris Ouest, and at Monash University in Prato, Italy. In addition, she has lectured on intellectual property law in Australia, Canada, Columbia, Cuba, France, Italy, Jordan, Korea, Mongolia, Namibia, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Scotland, Switzerland and Turkey. She frequently appears in the media as an expert on intellectual property and has appeared on or been quoted in the Washington Times, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, the New York Times, the Legal Times, New York Law Journal, and NPR, among other media outlets. Before teaching, Professor Farley was an associate specializing in intellectual property litigation with Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman in New York. She received a B.A. from Binghamton University, a J.D. from University at Buffalo Law School, and an LL.M. and J.S.D. from Columbia Law School.



Areas of Specialization

  • Art Law
  • International Intellectual Property
  • Internet and Computer Law
  • Trademark Law
  • Intellectual Property

Degrees & Universities

  • B.A., Binghamton University
  • J.D., University at Buffalo Law School
  • LL.M., Columbia Law School
  • J.S.D., Columbia Law School

  • Selected Publications

    • + More Publications...

  • + Selected Works in Progress

    • Christine Haight Farley, The Feminine Mystique of the Brand in Trademark Law Today, (work in progress). SSRN Link
    • Christine Haight Farley, The Protection of Geographical Indications Under U.S. Law, (manuscript in progress).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Global Issues In Trademark Law, (Thomson West forthcoming 2012).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Trademark Policing, (work in progress).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Green Marks, in Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and Climate Change (Joshua D. Sarnoff ed., Edward Elgar Press forthcoming 2012).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Territorial Exclusivity in U.S. Copyright and Trademark Law, in Concurrence et Innovation (Pierre-Emmanuel Moyse ed., forthcoming 2013).
    • Christine Haight Farley, The Pan-American Trademark Convention of 1929: A Bold Vision of Extraterritorial Meets Current Realities, in Trademarks and Territoriality (Irene Calboli ed., Edward Elgar Press forthcoming 2013).

  • + Selected Presentations

    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, The Forgotten Trademark Treaty: The Pan-American Convention (International Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable, University of San Diego School of Law, San Diego, Cal., Apr. 2013).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Limitations on Trade Dress Protection (28th Annual ABA Intellectual Property Law Conference, D.C., Apr. 2013).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, What is Art in the Age of Digital Convergence? (Art Law Section, AALS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, La., Jan. 2013).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Legal Rights Objections in New gTLDs (International Aspects of IP Law Arizona State University, American Society of International Law and the International Law Association [American Branch], Phoenix, Ariz., Dec. 2012).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, The Forgotten Trademark Treaty: The Pan-American Convention on Trademarks (International Aspects of IP Law Arizona State University, American Society of International Law and the International Law Association [American Branch], Phoenix, Ariz., Dec. 2012).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Territorial Exclusivity in US Copyright and Trademark Law (Intellectual Property and International Trade in Goods: North American and European Perspectives, McGill University and AIJA, Montreal, Can., Nov. 2012).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, The Outer Limits of Trademark Protection: Content and Concept Marks (International Trademark Association Annual Meeting, D.C., May 2012).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, The Forgotten Trademark Treaty: the Pan-American Convention (International IP Scholars Roundtable, Marquette University Law School, Milwaukee, Wis., Apr. 2012).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Thirty Years of Federal Circuit Trademark: The Creation of Color Marks (The Federal Circuit: 30 Years Back; 30 Years Forward, American University Law Review Symposium, D.C., Feb. 2012).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Color Marks: Christian Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent (North Carolina Bar Association IP Section Roundtable, N.C., Feb. 2012).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentations, An Introduction to U.S. Intellectual Property Law (University of Havana, Cuba, Dec. 11, 2011).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, IP Hot Topics and Burning Issues (IP Hot Topics and Burning Issues, D.C., Sept. 24, 2011).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Know When to Hold ‘Em (INTA Trademarks and the Internet Conference, D.C., Sept. 22, 2011).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, The Myth of the Likelihood of Dilution (ABA Intellectual Property Law Annual Meeting, D.C., Apr. 8, 2011).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Trademark Bullying (Monash University, Melbourne, Austrl., Mar. 10, 2011).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Keynote Presentation, Insights into the Legal Developments of Online Trademark Infringement (2010 TechNet Intellectual Property Forum, N.Y.C., Nov. 2010).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Panelist, Protection for Indigenous Cultural Knowledge and Expression (IP Empowerment Summit, Howard University Law School, D.C., Nov. 5, 2010).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Green Trademarks (Korean government-sponsored program "Trade & Sustainable Development," at Sungkyunkwan University Law School, Seoul, S. Kor., Oct. 8-9, 2010).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Invited Paper, The Feminine Mystique of the Brand in Trademark Law (Faculty Speaker Series, Rutgers School of Law, Camden, N.J., Mar. 2010).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Resolving Objections to New gTLD Applications: What Role for Trademark Law (9th Annual Hot Topics in Intellectual Property Symposium, Duke University Law School, Durham, N.C., Feb. 20, 2010).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Paper Presentation, ICANN’s Trademark Law (Signifiers in Cyberspace: Domain Names and Online Trademarks, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Cleveland, Ohio, Nov. 2009).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Trademark Bullying (Intellectual Property Panel of the Federal Court of Australia, Melbourne, Austrl., May 2009).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Paper Presentation, Art Photography as Legal Category (The Colloquium on Law, Photography and Other Recording Devices, University of Toronto, Toronto, Can., 2009).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, International Disputes Over Geographical Indications (University of the Pacific, Lima, Peru, Dec. 2007).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Trademarks, Domain Names and Speech: The Convergence of Law and Technology (Information Convergence: At the Boundaries of Access, John Marshall Law School, Chi., Ill., Nov. 2007).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Frank Schechter Was a Man Ahead of His Time, but Now He Is Dead (Trademark Dilution: Theoretical and Empirical Inquiries, Santa Clara Law School, Santa Clara, Cal., Oct. 2007).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Hot Topics in US IP Law (Federal Court of Australia, Sydney, Austrl., Aug. 9, 2007).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Paper Presentation, The Feminine Mystique of the Brand in Trademark Law Today (University of Melbourne Faculty of Law, Melbourne, Austrl., Aug. 8, 2007).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, New Top-level Domain Policy: Wrong on Trademark Law (ICANN Annual Meeting, San Juan, P.R., June 27, 2007).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Harmonization of Intellectual Property Laws After NAFTA (A North American Legal System: Is it Possible? Desirable?, American University Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Feb. 16, 2007).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, The Feminine Mystique of the Brand in Trademark Law Today (The Seventh Annual Women and the Law Conference, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, Cal., Feb, 9, 2007).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, Can I Use It?: Fair use of Copyrighted Works (District of Columbia Bar Association, Wash., D.C., Apr. 2006).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Presentation, What's Hot and What's Not On Capitol Hill? (District of Columbia Bar Association, Wash., D.C., Mar. 2006).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, The Artistic Expression Exception (Art Law Section AALS Annual Meeting, 1/06).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Trademark Dilution Law: Still Not Defined (Exploring the Limits: Recent Challenges to the Scope of IP Law, Fordham Law School, Nov. 2005).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Protection of Non-traditional Marks (United States Patent and Trademark Office and International Intellectual Property Institute Joint Workshop on Vietnam’s Draft Intellectual Property Legislation, Oct. 2005).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Search Engines as Third Party Trademark Infringers (Third Party Liability in Intellectual Property Law, Santa Clara University School of Law, Oct. 2005).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Intellectual Property Issues and Trade (Jordan Intellectual Property Association, Amman, Jor., June 2005).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Intellectual Property on the Internet (Jordan Intellectual Property Association, Amman, Jor., Apr. 2005).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Trademark Fair Use (D.C. Bar IP Section, Wash., D.C., Apr. 2005).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Search Engines as Valuable Intermediaries, W(h)ither the Middleman (Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich., Apr. 2005).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Law and Aesthetics (Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities, Austin, Tex., Mar. 2005).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Untitled: Artists Use of Trademarks in Titles (Art Law Section, AALS Annual Meeting, Jan. 2005).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, The Protection of Well-Known Marks in U.S. Law (Conflict Resolution in Industrial Property, Havana, Cuba, May 2004).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Due Process Problems in the DMCA (Peet-to-Peer Networking at the Crossroads, Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J., Apr. 2004).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Trademark Expansionism in Free Trade Agreements (Negotiating Intellectual Property Provisions in Free Trade Agreements, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla., Nov. 2003).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, What is The World Intellectual Property Office Doing to Change Trademark Law and Why Is It Doing It? (Consumers International 2003 International Congress, Lisbon, Port., Oct. 2003).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, The Supreme Court's Decision in Dastar: Drawing a Line Between Copyright and Trademarks (Annual Meeting of the American Intellecutal Property Law Association, Oct. 2003).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, The Public Costs of the Madrid Protocol, (11th Annual Conference on International Intellectual Property Law & Policy, Fordham University School of Law, N.Y.C., N.Y., Apr. 2003).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Intellectual Property and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Organization of American States, Indian Rights Working Group, Dec. 2002).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Old & New Media: The Impact of Technology (Columbia Law School, 75th Anniversary of Women, N.Y.C., N.Y., Oct. 2002).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Copyright Law's Response to the Invention of Photography (Faculty Workshop, Albany University School of Law, Albany, N.Y., Oct. 2002).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Mock Supreme Court Argument on Anti-Dilution Law (International Trademark Association Annual Meeting, May 2002).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, The Appellate Body of the WTO on Trademarks (10th Annual Conference on International Intellectual Proptery Law & Policy, Fordham University School of Law, N.Y.C., N.Y., Apr. 2002).
    • Christine Haight Farley, Speech, Where Does the Public Belong in Public Art? (Art Law Section, AALS Annual Meeting, Jan. 2002).

  • + Selected Honors & Awards

    • Named Irish Legal 100 by Irish Voice Magazine ( 2009-2012).
    • Selected as a Delegate for the International Association of Law Schools Conference in Canberra, Australia ( May 2009).
    • Certificate of Commendation, Monash University (for receiving student evaluations in the top 10% of the university, 2008).
    • Selected as a Delegate for the International Association of Law Schools Conference in Suzhou, China ( Oct. 2007).
    • Past Chair Art Law Section, Association of American Law Schools ( 2003).

  • + Selected Media Appearances