Nguyen, Xuan-Thao

Professor Nguyen is an internationally known legal scholar renowned for her expertise in the intersections of Intellectual Property, Contracts, Secured Transactions, Bankruptcy, Licensing and Taxation. She is the Gerald L. Bepko Endowed Chair in Law at the Indiana University McKinney School of Law. She held the Garvey Schubert Barer Visiting Professor of Law, University of Washington School of Law (2018-2019). She recently received the Trustees Teaching Award (2020).

Professor Nguyen is the recipient of the 2016 Grant Gilmore Award from the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers for her outstanding publications: "In the Name of Patent Stewardship: The Federal Circuit’s Overreach in Commercial Law," 67 Florida L. Rev. 127 (2015) and "Financing Innovation: Legal Development of Intellectual Property as Security in Financing,1845-2014," 48 Indiana Law Review 509 (2015).

Regarding the impact of President Trump’s tax policy on innovations, Professor Nguyen and her coauthor published "Attacking Innovations" in the 99 Boston University Law Review 1687 (2019). They also published The Intellectual Property Holding Company: Tax Use and Abuse from Victoria's Secret to Apple (Cambridge University Press 2017).

Professor Nguyen spearheaded the IP Venture Banking Project with an economist. They investigate the underutilization of intellectual property as an asset class in lending and financing. Their research and proposed solutions appear in “Lending the Unbanked Innovators,” _ Journal of Corporation Law__ (forthcoming 2020); "Lending Innovation," _ Brooklyn Law Review __ (forthcoming 2020); "Disruptive Lending For Innovations Signaling Model and Banks Selection of Startups", 21 U. Penn. J. Business Law 200 (2019); "Patent Aversion: An Empirical Study of Patents Collateral in Bank Lending, 1980–2016," 9 UC Irvine Law Review 141 (2018); "The Puzzle in Financing with Trademark Collateral", 56 Houston Law Review 365 (2018).

Professor Nguyen has also published over forty law review articles (see the list of the law review articles at the end of this Bio summary). Her articles have been cited by the Federal Circuit, the Third Circuit, the Ninth Circuit, federal district courts and state tax courts: Fair Wind Sailing, Inc. v. Dempster, 764 F.3d 303, 310 (3d Cir. 2014); In re Steelbuilding.com, 415 F.3d 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2005); Interstellar Starship Services, Ltd. v. Epix, Inc., 304 F.3d 936 (9th Cir. 2002); Times Mirror Magazines, Inc. v. Las Vegas Sports News, 212 F.3d 157, 175 (3d Cir. 2000); Lorillard Tobacco Company v. Director of Taxation, 2019 WL 966940 (Tax Court of NJ 2019); BMC Software, Inc. v. Director, Division of Taxation, 30 N.J. Tax 92 (Tax Court of NJ 2017); Git-R-Done Productions, Inc. v. Giterdone C Store, LLC, 226 Supp.3d 684 (S.D. Miss. 2016); Spring Licensing Group, Inc. v. Director, Division of Taxation, 2015 WL 10321400 (Tax Court of NJ 2015); Salt Optics, Inc. v. Jand, Inc., 2011 WL 13055856 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 4, 2011); In re Interstate Bakeries Corp., 2010 WL 2332142, *7 (Bank.W.D.Mo. June 4, 2010); Ligotti v. Garofalo, 562 F.Supp.2d 204 (D.N.H. 2008); Blue Nile, Inc. v. Ice.com, Inc., 478 F.Supp.2d 1240 (W.D.Wash. 2007); EMSL Analytical, Inc. v. Testamerica Analytical Testing Corp., 2006 WL 892718 (D.N.J. April 4, 2006); Pharmacia Corp. v. Alcon Laboratories, Inc., 201 F.Supp.2d 335 (D.N.J. 2002).

In addition to law review publications, Professor Nguyen enjoys collaborating with her coauthors on treatises, Taxation of Intellectual Property (BNA Bloomberg) and Licensing Intellectual Property (BNA Bloomberg). She co-authored a casebook on Transnational Intellectual Property Law (West Publishers), in addition to her three casebooks on Licensing Intellectual Property (Aspen Publishers), Taxation of Intellectual Property (Carolina Academic Press), and Intellectual Property Law (Vietnam National University Press).

Professor Nguyen is a senior consultant for the World Bank/IFC on Secured Transactions in China, Vietnam, and the Mekong Region. In her consultant capacity, she conducts workshops and provides drafting comments to National Drafting Committees on Secured Transactions law and international best practices. She works with the Vietnam Supreme People’s Court in the training of judges on Secured Transactions law. She regularly trains bank officials and attorneys in financing law. She currently serves on the Scientific Council, University of Economics & Law, Vietnam National University, shaping the University’s strategic vision. In 2009, Professor Nguyen was a Senior Fulbright Scholar at VNU School of Law in Hanoi. She subsequently served as a Fulbright Scholars Peer Reviewer for six years.

Professor Nguyen gained valuable insights through her practice years at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson and Pryor, Cashman, Sherman & Flynn, in NYC, and counted Duke University Medical Center and physician-scientist Dr. Jonathan Stamler among her clients. She is registered to practice with the USPTO. She is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, J.D., and Oberlin College, BA with triple majors in Biology, Sociology, and Women’s Studies.

In her spare time, Professor Nguyen enjoys hosting parties for her students and collecting fine arts. She has served for six years on the Board of Trustees, Dallas Museum of Art.

Professor Nguyen joined the faculty of IU McKinney Law in the summer of 2014, after serving for eleven years at the SMU Dedman School of Law faculty and three years at the Texas A & M University School of Law (Texas Weslyan University School of Law).  She received her B.A. from Oberlin College with triple-majors in Biology, Sociology and Women’s Studies, and her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.