International Intellectual Property Law
Module summary
The purpose of this course is to examine the International Intellectual Property system (IIPS) with a particular focus on how the framework is changing in response to challenges posed by international trade and rapid digital innovations.
The IIPS began developing in the 19th Century in response to the then advances in international trade. As intellectual property laws are territorial, so some mechanism had to be found through which protection could be accorded to authors and inventors as their works were traded abroad.
The response, over the ensuing 150 years, was the establishment of a number of international bodies responsible for the development and oversight of a variety of Treaties and Agreements providing both formal and substantive norms which were (and are) in turn translated into domestic law. These measures have had a significant impact on the shape of domestic laws. The development of the Treaties has quickened with the growth in international trade coupled with innovative digital advances.
The purpose of this module is to examine the IIPS with a particular focus on patents, copyright and trade marks and within the domains of information and communication and international trade.
Having analysed the architecture of the IIPS and considered the ways in which the laws are developed, this module will go on to look in depth at formal and substantive aspects of those Treaties.
Particular emphasis will be laid upon the ways in which developments are occurring in response to trade and digital advances.
Session titles
- History and architecture of the IIPS
- Towards the IIPS
- Power and politics: TRIPs and beyond
- Human rights and the IIPS
- Trade marks and international trade
- Patents and international trade
- Culture and communication I
- Culture and communication II
- Enforcement
- Current issues
Learning outcomes
By the end of this module you should be able to:
- Conceptualise the IIPS and understand how the constituent parts fit together
- Appreciate the tensions that underlie developments in the IIPS and how these are played out in the international arena
- Understand the most important aspects of the IIPS and how that relates to regional and domestic intellectual property laws
- Critically comment on the tensions in the IIPS being wrought by international trade and digital information developments
- Comment on the utility of the enforcement system through which states are encouraged to meet their international obligations
- Assess whether domestic laws conform with the IIPS
Assessment
One Essay, 5000 words (60%); one piece of assessed course work (20%); participation in online activity (20%).
