Introductory description

This module provides students with an understanding of the main categories of intellectual property right protected by law, namely copyright, patent and trademark, as well as associated rights such as trade secrecy protection and protection of geographic indications of origin.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Week 1: - The international IP framework: - theory and practice (covering the history of the IP protection, the philosophical justifications for its protection, and the development of the international system under the World Trade Organisation and Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights)
Week 2: - The fundamentals of copyright protection (covering the development of copyright law, the relevant provisions of TRIPS, and their incorporation into the UK's Copyright, Design and Patents Act, with comparisons with the 'continental' approach, represented by Germany and France)
Week 3: - Copyright and the Internet (covering the current concerns and conflicts over copyright protection on the Internet, including legal actions against individual infringers, intermediary immunity from liability, and blocking websites hosting infringing content)
Week 4: - Trade Secrecy (covering trade secrecy, and its relation to the UK doctrine of breach of confidence - provides context for patents, by considering the alternative, namely the withholding of commercial information, which may be a step prior to patent application)
Week 5: - The fundamentals of patent protection (covering the development of patents, comparing and distinguishing patent protection from protection of trade secrets, and providing an overview of the criteria for protection)
Week 6: - Contemporary disputes over patent protection (provides some flexibility, depending on what issues are considered particularly important in patent law at a particular time; currently the main focus is on the regulation of biotechnological inventions, access to medicines, and computer software patents)
Week 7: - The fundamentals of trademark protection (covering the distinct development of trademark as compared to copyright and patent, providing an overview of the criteria for protection, as well as some of the 'hard' cases, such as sound and scent trademarks)
Week 8: - Geographic Indications of Origin (considering the controversies over the protection of agricultural products by a sui generis system associated with trade mark, in particular between 'old world' and 'new world' producers)
Week 9: - The UK in an international context (considering the place of the UK as an IP exporting nation, and the potential implications of withdrawing from the EU and relying upon the WTO system for the protection of its intellectual property rights)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Critically reflect upon the incorporation of the TRIPS regime in national law, and the changing position of the UK as a result of the proposed withdrawl from the European Union.
• Demonstrate understanding of the historical development of the rights categorised as ‘intellectual property’
• Discuss the philosophical justifications for intellectual property, and to be able to critique their relation to the contemporary international intellectual property system
• Effectively distinguish between, and identify the criteria for the protection of copyright, patent, trademark, trade secrets and geographic indications of origin
• Conduct effective research using both secondary materials and primary sources including EU preparatory works and policy papers
• Analyse issues from an interdisciplinary perspective, taking into account political, economic and technology-based arguments over Internet regulation
• Be able to present academic opinions in both written and oral form

Indicative reading list

Dutfield and Suthersanen Global Intellectual Property Law (Edward Elgar 2008)

Subject specific skills

No subject specific skills defined for this module.

Transferable skills

No transferable skills defined for this module.