Academic Staff

Haochen Sun 孫皓琛

Assistant Professor of Law

Email | HKU ResearcherPage | SSRN |

Haochen teaches and researches in the areas of intellectual property and property. His scholarship draws on social, cultural and political thought to explore the theoretical foundations of intellectual property and property law. His most recent research is concerned with the ideas of social responsibility and justice in intellectual property law, the reconceptualization of the nature of fair use in copyright law, a new social-political theory of the public trust doctrine, and Hegel's theory of property. During the past few years, Haochen also worked on theoretical and policy studies of various intellectual property issues, such as copyright protection and digital technology, the three-step test used in the international copyright treaties, and patent and public health.

Haochen has presented his papers at numerous conferences. His recent work on intellectual property has been selected for presentation at the Harvard-Stanford International Junior Faculty Forum (2011), the Plenary Session of the 11th Intellectual Property Scholars Conference (2011), the 4th Junior Scholars in Intellectual Property Workshop at Michigan State University College of Law (2011), the 3rd Global Forum on Intellectual Property (2011), and the 15th Fordham Intellectual Property Law and Policy Conference (2007).

Before joining University of Hong Kong, Haochen worked as a research fellow at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property. He obtained an LL.B. from Zhejiang University, and an LL.M. degree from National University of Singapore and Harvard Law School, respectively. At each institution, he received a series of scholarships and grants. He is currently completing his SJD dissertation. The dissertation seeks to put forward a new ethical theory of copyright law.

Selected Publications

“Can Louis Vuitton Dance with HiPhone? Rethinking the Idea of Social Justice in Intellectual Property Law” (under review)
• Selected for presentation at the 2011 Harvard-Stanford International Junior Faculty Forum

"Fair Use as a Collective User Right," 90 North Carolina Law Review (forthcoming December 2011)
• Selected for presentation in the plenary session of the 11th Intellectual Property Scholars Conference (2011)
• Selected for presentation at the 4th Junior Scholars in Intellectual Property Workshop (2011)
• Selected for presentation at the 3rd Global Forum on Intellectual Property (2011)

"Toward a New Social-Political Theory of the Public Trust Doctrine," 35 Vermont Law Review 563 (2011)

"Designing Journeys to the Social World: Hegel's Theory of Property and His Noble Dreams Revisited," 6 Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy 33 (2010)

"Overcoming the Achilles Heel of Copyright Law," 5 Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property 248 (2007)

"Reconstructing Reproduction Right Protection in China," 53 Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 223 (2006)

"Copyright Under Siege: An Inquiry into the Legitimacy of Copyright Protection in the Context of Global Digital Divide," 35 International Review of Industrial Property and Copyright Law 192 (2005)