T

he Hebrew University of 
Jerusalem has awarded an 
Honorary Fellowship to Martin 
J. Adelman, an internationally known 
intellectual property and technology 
professor from Detroit. University 
President Professor Asher Cohen 
presented the fellowship at the 87th 
Hebrew University Board of Governors 
meeting on June 3 in Jerusalem.
This honor was awarded to Adelman 
“in recognition of his esteemed career 
and expertise as a patent lawyer, in both 

the private sector and in academia; 
honoring his and wife Susan’s boundless 
generosity to the Jewish community and 
Israel; and in tribute to his passion and 
dedication to education,” Cohen said.
Martin J. Adelman began teaching 
intellectual property law in Israel at the 
University of Haifa about 20 years ago. 
A relative who was a development staff 
member for Hebrew University (HU) 
connected him there, and he taught his 
first law course at HU during the 2010-
2011 school year. Currently, he teaches 

Intellectual Property Professor Martin Adelman 
becomes an honorary fellow.

Hebrew University 
Honors Local 
Professor 

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

20 | JULY 18 • 2024 
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an annual patent law seminar at HU and also 
serves on the faculty of Bar-Ilan University in 
Israel.
“It is a great honor to be awarded an 
Honorary Fellowship by Hebrew University, 
an institution that my wife (Dr. Susan 
Adelman) and I first visited in 1968 on our 
first trip to Israel,” Adelman said. “I have 
loved my interaction with its students, and 
I am pleased to see that enrollments have 
increased from 11 at the beginning to more 
than 60 in the current class. This growth 
shows a recognition by Hebrew University 
law students of how much Israel has become 
an innovation powerhouse.”
In 2003, he co-founded the Munich 
Intellectual Property Law Center, an educa-
tional and research institution in Germany. 
Adelman taught there for many years and 
continues to serve on its Scientific Advisory 
Board. He has co-authored numerous law 
books and articles, lectured on patent law 
in more than 40 countries, and testified as 
a patent law expert in more than 190 patent 
infringement cases.
Adelman describes intellectual property law 
as encompassing copyrights, trademarks and 
patent law. The term “intellectual property” 
differentiates it from physical property. He 
explains that Israel’s patent law was derived 
from British laws dating from the time of the 
British Mandate; Israel’s current patent regula-
tions are based on a law passed in 1967. 
Such laws are important for Israeli startup 
companies, many of which are technolo-
gy-based. “Patent law is territorial,” he says, 
so Israeli businesses that conduct business 
outside the country need to register their 
intellectual property (such as software and 
brand logos) in Israel as well as other loca-
tions where they operate. In Israel, Adelman 
says “Jews are litigious but cases don’t fre-
quently get to the Israeli Supreme Court.”
Adelman is a native Detroiter who received 
a B.A., M.S. in physics and his J.D. from the 
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Prior 
to his academic career, Adelman practiced 
patent law in the Detroit area. He served as 
a law professor at Wayne State University 
Law School from 1973 until 1999, when he 
became professor emeritus. Adelman later 
taught intellectual property law at the George 
Washington University Law School, where he 
is an emeritus professor. 

HU President Professor Asher 
Cohen (right) presented 
an Honorary Fellowship 
to renowned intellectual 
property and technology 
Professor Martin J. Adelman 
(left) on June 3 during the 
87th board of governors 
meeting in Jerusalem.

MAXIM DINSHTEIN

