Making meaningful connections

Professor Cynthia M. Ho is passionate about intellectual property law 

A method of reducing bus pollution. A litigation case about transformer cores. A patent application for a process of purifying liquid eggs. When Cynthia M. Ho worked as an intellectual property (IP) lawyer, she loved the wide range of technologies she encountered. In fact, one of her favorite parts of each case was the beginning, when she would stock up on tech-focused books and dive into research.

Now, she brings that passion and curiosity to her students as the director of the intellectual property law program at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. As a professor, Ho strives to make meaningful connections with her students. And students notice, choosing Ho as Outstanding 1L Professor of the Year in 2023.

Ho has always been science minded. Before law school, she even thought she’d go to medical school. When she encountered IP lawyers for the first time, she believed that IP combined the best of law studies with a dash of scientific vigor. “Although they were lawyers, they could still be knowledgeable about invention,” she says. “That seems like a win-win.”

“Most [lawyers] should know something about IP, even if it’s not what they plan to focus on.”

Intellectual property law includes any cases dealing with patents, copyrights, trademarks, and protecting ideas and inspiration. As an associate at Fish & Neave in the 1990s, Ho worked on cases involving technology, including patents and trade secrets. Because intellectual property laws affect most businesses, she thinks all law students should have a basic understanding. “Most [lawyers] should know something about IP, even if it’s not what they plan to focus on,” says Ho.

A member of the School of Law faculty since 1997, Ho teaches intellectual property classes, including a survey of intellectual property, IP Colloquium, Global Access to Medicine: A Patent Perspective, and Civil Procedure. She finds that her students learn best when they’re interacting with each other—and activities like class polls, discussions, and “science fair”-style presentations expand her classes past basic lectures.

Student Angela Yeh recalls Ho leading her class in a hypothetical case where the Kardashian sisters were beefing with the Three Bears. “Really, what it was doing was teaching us about service and notice rules,” says Yeh. “She found ways to make the material she’s teaching engaging.”

“I try to be attentive and attuned to students as budding lawyers and individuals,” says Ho. Beyond the classroom, she collaborates with students to run Loyola’s IP Bytes blog. She works with the Career Services Office to prep students for the Loyola Patent Interview Program, an annual two-day event that brings together patent law students and potential employers. She hosts an annual reception for alumni and current students. And through it all, she strives to make meaningful connections with students, often inviting them out for lunch or to the Jeni’s Ice Cream around the corner from the law school.

Such outreach works to make students feel welcome. On her first day at Loyola, Emma Wallace was surprised that Ho already knew her name. “She remembered me from a Zoom seminar from before the semester started,” Wallace says. “I was hesitant about uprooting and moving to Chicago, but that was an example of instant community connection.” –Megan Kirby (March 2024)