Robert Gomulkiewicz

Judson Falknor Professor of Law
Judson Falknor Professor of Law

Contact

Phone: (206) 616-4849
Email: bobgom@uw.edu

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Education

B.A. 1983, magna cum laude, Pacific Lutheran University M.A. 1987, J.D. 1987, University of Washington

Curriculum Vitae

Areas of Expertise

Trademark Law — Copyright Law — First Amendment — Licensing Law — Software Law

Recent Courses

Course Number	Course Name
LAW A 591	Constitutional Law: Freedom Of Expression
LAW P 502	Trademark and Trade Secret Law
LAW P 547	Legal Protection of Computer Software
LAW P 577	Drafting Intellectual Property Licenses

Selected Publications

Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Separated by a Door Not a Wall: Replacing a Powerful Establishment Clause Metaphor, 27 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 262 (2025).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Software Law and Its Application (3d ed. Aspen Publishers 2023) (Aspen Select Series). 652 pages.
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Xuan-Thao Nguyen & Danielle M. Conway, Licensing Intellectual Property: Law and Application (5th ed. Aspen 2023) (Aspen Casebook Series). 960 pages.
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Considering a Right to Repair Software, 37 Berkeley Tech. L. J. 941-86 (2023).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, The Supreme Court’s Chief Justice of Intellectual Property Law, 22 Nev. L.J. 505–62 (2022).

See the full list under the Publications tab below.

Biography
Publications
Presentations
In the Media

Robert W. Gomulkiewicz is the Judson Falknor Endowed Professor of Law and was the founding Director of the Intellectual Property Law & Policy Graduate Program.

Professor Gomulkiewicz’s scholarship focuses on intellectual property licensing and legal protection for software. His work explores the intersection between contracts and intellectual property in the creation and distribution of technology. His publications include both a treatise and a teaching textbook on intellectual property licensing, a teaching textbook on legal protection for software and numerous articles on software licensing and open-source software. He is also the author of the Simple Public License (SimPL) which is a plain language rendering of the venerable GNU General Public License. In 2018 he was a Herchel Smith Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge, in 2014 a Senior Engelberg Fellow at New York University School of Law and in 2008–09 a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford.

Prior to joining the faculty, he was an Associate General Counsel at Microsoft where he led the group of lawyers providing legal counsel for development of Microsoft's major systems software, desktop applications and developer tools software (including Windows and Office). He also served as Chair of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) working group of the Business Software Alliance. He joined Microsoft from the law firm of Preston, Gates & Ellis (now K&L Gates) where he represented developers and users of software and information products. While at Preston, Gates & Ellis, he worked on the Apple v. Microsoft case.

Peer Reviewed Journals & Law Reviews

Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Separated by a Door Not a Wall: Replacing a Powerful Establishment Clause Metaphor, 27 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 262 (2025).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Considering a Right to Repair Software, 37 Berkeley Tech. L. J. 941-86 (2023).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, The Supreme Court’s Chief Justice of Intellectual Property Law, 22 Nev. L.J. 505–62 (2022).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Contracts Mattered as Much as Copyrights, 66 J. Copyright Soc’y U.S.A. 441-75 (2019).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Is the License Still the Product?, 60 Ariz. L. Rev. 425-64 (2018).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Reasons for Counseling Reasonableness in Deploying Covenants-Not-to-Compete in Technology Firms, 20 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 477-95 (2016).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Leaky Covenants-Not-to-Compete as the Legal Infrastructure for Innovation, 49 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 251-304 (2015).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, In the Stewardship of Business Model Innovation, 67 Fla. L. Rev. Forum 35-37 (2015).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Fostering the Business of Innovation: The Untold Story of Bowers v. Baystate Technologies, 7 Wash. J. L. Tech. & Arts 445-66 (2012).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Enforcing Open Source Software Licenses: The MDY Trio's Inconvenient Complications, 14 Yale J. L. & Tech. 106-37 (2011).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Intellectual Property, Innovation, and the Future: Toward a Better Model for Educating Leaders in Intellectual Property Law, 64 SMU L. Rev. 1161-86 (2011).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Conditions and Covenants in License Contracts: Tales from a Test of the Artistic License, 17 Tex. Intell. Prop. L.J. 335-61 (2009).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, The Federal Circuit's Licensing Law Jurisprudence: Its Nature and Influence, 84 Wash. L. Rev. 199-259 (2009).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Open Source License Proliferation: Helpful Diversity or Hopeless Confusion? 30 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol’y 261-91 (2009).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, A First Look at General Public License 3.0, Computer & Internet Law., Nov. 2007, at 15-21.
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, General Public License 3.0: Hacking the Free Software Movement’s Constitution, 42 Hous. L. Rev. 1015-40 (2005).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Getting Serious about User-Friendly Mass Market Licensing for Software, 12 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 687-718 (2004).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Non-Disclosure Agreements in Technology Collaborations: Balancing Risks and Opportunities, Computer & Internet Law., Feb. 2004, at 17-18.
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Entrepreneurial Open Source Software Hackers--MySQL and Its Dual Licensing, 9 Computer L. Rev. & Tech J. 203-12 (2004).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, De-bugging Open Source Software Licensing, 64 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 75-103 (2002).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Legal Protection for Software: Still a Work in Progress, 8 Tex. Wesleyan L. Rev. 445-54 (2002).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, How Copyleft Uses License Rights to Succeed in the Open Source Software Revolution and the Implications for Article 2B, 36 Hous. L. Rev. 179-94 (1999).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, The Implied Warranty of Merchantability in Software Contracts: A Warranty No One Dares to Give and How to Change That, 16 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 393-402 (1998).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, The License Is the Product: Comments on the Promise of Article 2B for Software and Information Licensing, 13 Berkeley Tech. L. J. 891-930 (1998).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz & Mary L. Williamson, A Brief Defense of Mass Market Software License Agreements, 22 Rutgers Computer & Tech. L.J. 335-67 (1996).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, International Law Governing Aid to Opposition Groups in Civil War: Resurrecting the Standards of Belligerency, 63 Wash. L. Rev. 43-68 (1988).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Comment, Recognizing the Liability of Social Hosts Who Knowingly Allow Intoxicated Guests to Drive: Limits to Socially Acceptable Behavior, 60 Wash. L. Rev. 389-406 (1986).

Books or Treatises

Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Software Law and Its Application (3d ed. Aspen Publishers 2023) (Aspen Select Series). 652 pages.
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Xuan-Thao Nguyen & Danielle M. Conway, Licensing Intellectual Property: Law and Application (5th ed. Aspen 2023) (Aspen Casebook Series). 960 pages.
Xuan-Thao N. Nguyen, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz & Danielle M. Conway, Intellectual Property, Software, and Information Licensing: Law and Practice (2d ed. 2018 Bloomberg BNA). 1 vol.
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Xuan-Thao Nguyen & Danielle M. Conway, Licensing Intellectual Property: Law and Application (4th ed. Aspen 2018) (Aspen Casebook Series) 924 pages.
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Software Law and Its Application (2d ed. Aspen Publishers 2018) (Aspen Select Series). 630 pages.
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Xuan-Thao Nguyen & Danielle M. Conway, Licensing Intellectual Property: Law and Application (3d ed. Aspen 2014) (Aspen Casebook Series) 815 pages.
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Software Law and Its Application (Aspen Publishers 2014) (Aspen Casebook Series). 578 pages.
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Xuan-Thao Nguyen & Danielle M. Conway, Licensing Intellectual Property: Law and Application (2d ed. Aspen Publishers 2011) (Aspen Casebook Series). 700 pages.
Xuan-Thao N. Nguyen, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz & Danielle Conway-Jones, Intellectual Property, Software, and Information Licensing: Law and Practice (Bureau of National Affairs 2006 & annual cum. supps.). 1536 pages.
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz et al., Licensing Intellectual Property: Law and Application (Aspen Publishers 2008). 609 pages.

Book Chapters

Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Clarifications and Complications in Enforcing Open Source Software Licenses, in Research Handbook on Intellectual Property Licensing 76-98 (Jacques de Werre ed., Edward Elgar Publishing 2013).

Professional Publications

Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, In Person, 4 J. Intell. Prop. L. & Prac. 72 (2009).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, After 30 Years, Debate Over Software Protection Is Still Noisy: Do Current Laws Protect Too Little or Too Much, Nat. L. J., May 12, 2003, at S10-11.
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz & William H. Neukom, Licensing Rights to Computer Software, in Technology Licensing and Litigation 775 (Practicing Law Institute 1993) (PLI Patent, Copyright, Trademark & Literary Prop., Course Handbook Ser. No. 354).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Defensas Contra Reclamos por Infraccion a los Derechos de Autor Relacionados con Software, 32 DAT: Derecho De La Alta Tecnologia 1 (April 1991)(with Martin F. Smith & Cynthia M. Hayward).
Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Research and Development and High Technology Joint Ventures, Joint Venturing Abroad (Wash. St. Bar 1988) (with Martin F. Smith).

Speaker, Intellectual Property Licenses as Property, New “Frontiers” in Property in the AI Age University of Washington School of Law (March 7, 2025)
Speaker, Trademark Law Meets the First Amendment King County Bar Association Intellectual Property Section, (March 6, 2025)
Speaker, Software Licensing for Revolutionaries Global Information Exchange (GIX), (March 5, 2025)
Speaker, "Expression and Establishment in Public Schools," Sunset Club, (October 20, 2022)
Speaker, "Considering a Right to Repair Software, The Emergent Right to Repair," U.C. Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, (April 22, 2022)
Speaker, "What Makes Software “Open Access”?," Joint Seminar, University of Washington School of Law/Keio University Law School (January 12, 2020)
Moderator, "Status of Washington State Constitution's Religious Freedom Provision in Light of Federal Law Developments," Second Annual Law and Religion Symposium, University of Washington School of Law (May 17, 2019)
Speaker, "Copyright Licensing for Revolutionaries," Intellectual Property Seminar Series, University of Cambridge Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law (October 25, 2018)
Speaker, "Is the License Still the Product?," Shefelman Faculty Colloquium, University of Washington School of Law (January 25, 2018)
Panelist, "Recent Developments in Washington State," First Annual Law and Religion Symposium, University of Washington School of Law (October 13, 2017)
Speaker, "Is the License Still the Product?," Pacific Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, (September 30, 2017)
Speaker, "Intellectual Property Licensing Models After Impression Products v. Lexmark," 2017 CASRIP Innovation Policy Summer Institute, University of Washington School of Law (July 10, 2017)
Panelist, "Consumer Messaging in Connection with Online Transactions Involving Copyrighted Works," U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (April 18, 2017)
Moderator, "Alternative Frameworks/Open Source Software," The Art and Science of the IP Deal, University of Washington School of Law (April 8, 2017)
Panelist, "The Values and Ethics of Deals," The Art and Science of the IP Deal, University of Washington School of Law (April 7, 2017)

Free speech law shielded Seattle anti-LGBTQ+ rally; FBI looks into protest (Professor Gomulkiewicz quoted)
May 27, 2025 | Source: Seattle Times

University of Washington law professor Robert Gomulkiewicz said the First Amendment is strongest in public places and the ability of governments like Seattle to regulate speech in parks is highly restricted. “Parks and sidewalks are the quintessential public forum where people have been expressing ideas and protesting since the founding of the country,” he said.
Racial slurs in Tacoma, anti-Semitic outbursts in Lynnwood: Can city council members cut off offensive speech? (Professor Gomulkiewicz quoted)
Nov 30, 2023 | Source: FOX 13

A rash of racist rants during public comment at local city council meetings has some Western Washington elected officials looking for solutions. Robert Gomulkiewicz, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
Bremerton gears up for first game, return of praying coach Joe Kennedy (Professor Gomulkiewicz quoted)
Aug 31, 2023 | Source: Seattle Times

Bob Gomulkiewicz, a University of Washington law professor who teaches a class on the First Amendment, doesn’t see the Kennedy ruling as quite that significant. He said the ruling is consistent with decades of Supreme Court precedent saying teachers and students don’t “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” as a seminal 1969 case put it.
Supreme Court says Bremerton coach had a right to pray on field (Prof. Gomulkiewicz quoted)
Jun 27, 2022 | Source: Crosscut

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a former Bremerton High School football coach had a constitutional right to pray alongside student athletes on the 50-yard line after games. Bob Gomulkiewicz, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
Former Bremerton coach in Supreme Court spotlight says he wants his old job back (Prof. Gomulkiewicz quoted)
May 02, 2022 | Source: The Seattle Times

Joe Kennedy was little known outside of the Bremerton High School athletes and their families who, for years, turned to him for advice, encouragement and support. Now, "Coach Joe" stands at the center of a national debate on First Amendment rights, religious freedom and prayer in public schools. Bob Gomulkiewicz, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
How punishing people for 'doxxing' could prove tricky for WA lawmakers (Prof. Gomulkiewicz quoted)
Jan 28, 2022 | Source: Crosscut

Lawmakers want to address the malicious posting of people's personal information, but First Amendment concerns complicate matters. Robert Gomulkiewicz, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
What is free speech? (Prof. Gomulkiewicz interviewed)
Jul 11, 2020 | Source: MyNorthwest

Bob Gomulkiewicz, professor of law at the UW specializing in the First Amendment, is interviewed on “KIRO Nights” about what is and isn’t free speech according to the U.S. Constitution. [Interview begins at 1:58.]