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Case Western Reserve University has received $3 million to endow the university's Intellectual Property Center. (CWRU) Credit: Case Western Reserve University

(Case Western Reserve University)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Case Western Reserve University has received $3 million from the family of law school alumnus Erich Spangenberg to endow the university's Intellectual Property Center.

The new Spangenberg Center for Law, Technology & the Arts will allow more opportunities for students to gain interdisciplinary, practical experience in the rapidly growing field of intellectual property law, the university said. The pledge also provides faculty members and visiting fellows more resources for research.

"This commitment serves as a turning point and expands what our center can do," professor Craig Nard, the center's director, said in a news release. "The Spangenberg family's generosity not only impacts the lives of our students and supports our educational program, but allows us to counsel more entrepreneurs to help get their new ideas and products to the market."

The hallmark of the center is Fusion, a program in which law school, masters of business administration and doctoral science students collaborate to explore a new technology, build a business strategy around it and provide the legal assistance—including intellectual property protection—to commercialize the venture.

Fusion students then transition into the school's new Venture Clinic, where they handle real cases and represent startup ventures, mostly in Northeast Ohio. The multi-million dollar commitment, among the largest the law school has ever received, will allow the clinic to expand its reach outside the region.

The Spangenberg Family Foundation, founded in 2008 by Spangenberg, his wife Audrey and their son Christian, has long been a benefactor of the Case Western Reserve law school, the university said.

Erich Spangenberg, a 1985 CWRU law school graduate, is founder and chairman of Dallas-based IP Navigation Group. Previously, he was a law partner at Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue; senior vice president of investment banking at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette; and president of both SmarTalk Teleservices and Acclaim Ventures Group.

"With the Fusion program, Case Western Reserve law school brings an interdisciplinary approach to teaching IP law," Erich Spangenberg said in the press release. "This is something you don't see often in law schools, and one of the many reasons why we wanted to support the center's mission."

The Spangenbergs' pledge also provides funding to expand externships and enables the center to launch a conference series.