Intellectual Property Law 2: Industrial Property (Distance Learning) (P01142)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : LAW-P-LW0042

The purpose of this module is to consider the law relating to patents, trade marks, passing off, breach of confidence within their institutional setting at International, European and national level. Recent years have witnessed an expansion in the scope of these intellectual property rights, and having examined the institutional setting in which policy is formed, the scope and impact of these rights within individual territories as well as their movement between territories will be analysed. The sessions will also highlight areas of particular topicality where these rights have an impact such as: access to medicines; biotechnology; domain names and computer programs.

Entry Requirements

? Costs : Students should have regular and reliable access to the Internet. Print consumables (paper and ink) would be recommended to provide hard copy of some on screen text and materials (e.g. articles).

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Law, (School of Law, Schedule F)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

The aims of this course are to:

- Highlight the institutional framework in which policy is formulated and the law developed in the areas of patents and trade marks;

- Investigate how rights may be registered at international, European and national level;

- Consider the impact of international policy making on the scope of the rights

- Explore how the rights may be infringed

- Consider the interests that the law protects and investigate the extent to which it is successful in balancing those interests

By the end of this course the student should be able to:

- Appreciate the variety of institutions involved in the intellectual property field and understand their role and functions in policy making

- Understand the mechanisms available for registering rights and the reasons for the rules on which registration rests

- Identify the rights in practice, explain their scope and identify when those rights may be infringed

- Critically assess the development of the law and how changes in the law affect different interests

- Be aware of current developments in the law and be able to contribute in an informed manner to the ongoing debate as to the proper role of these rights.

Assessment Information

One Essay, 5000 words (60%); two pieces of assessed work (20% each)

Note: Completion of the Certificate, the Diploma and progression through the LLM programme will be subject to participation in and completion of core activities within this module.