Postgraduate Course: Legal Aspects of Managing Intellectual Property (LAWS11339)
Course Outline
School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
Summary | This course will examine the legal considerations relevant to commercialisation and enforcement of the principal intellectual property ("IP") rights. The primary jurisdictional focus of the course will be the UK and Europe, together with discussion of international registration procedures for registered IP rights. This course will involve the consideration of legal issues drawing from a range of subject areas, including patent and trade mark practice, contract, commercial law, international private law and civil enforcement procedure. |
Course description |
This course will consider the legal aspects of managing IP by examining legal issues arising in IP commercialisation and enforcement.
The course will address how the principal IP rights are created, protected, owned, transacted and enforced. This will include examination of the law relating to ownership and registration of relevant rights at the UK, European and international levels. The course will look at different ways of commercialising and transacting in IP rights. The course will also examine a range of legal issues relating to enforcement, including the UK law of groundless threats, jurisdiction and cross-border enforcement, evidential issues and the remedies available in the event of infringement.
Students are expected to read and fully engage with doctrinal/black letter law (primary materials in the form of statutes, directives and case law) in addition to legal scholarship in this area. This course is taught at Masters level and the emphasis is on independent learning and student participation. During teaching, students are expected to contribute to discussions and to take responsibility for their own learning. The reading materials which are referred to are by no means exhaustive and students are encouraged to undertake independent research. Students undertaking the course will be expected to carry out independent personal research for their assignments over and beyond the issues and materials discussed during teaching.
It is very important to understand that this course will *not* look at any detailed questions of substantive IP law on matters such as the subsistence, validity and infringement of any of the principal IP rights. These are matters which are covered in other courses available on the eLLM programme.
Where relevant for that week's topic, your reading lists will contain directions to some foundational reading material covering these issues for students who, in their own time, need to familiarise or refresh themselves on these points. It is the responsibility of students who have not studied substantive IP law or who need to revise their knowledge of the substantive law to carry out the necessary foundational reading as part of their own personal study in order to be able to make the most out of each week's discussions. Where possible within your personal programme of study it is particularly recommended that students should have previously taken the "Intellectual Property Law: Industrial Property" course or be taking this course at the same time as "Legal Aspects of Managing IP".
All students taking this course should have or will be given access to a soft copy of the textbook 'Contemporary Intellectual Property: Law and Policy' (OUP, latest edition). If you have not studied IP law before it is an essential part of your preparation for this course that you read: Chapter 1 "Intellectual property law: an introduction". As noted immediately above, where relevant (for example, on trade marks, copyright and patents), specific chapters from this book will be highlighted as appropriate background or refresher reading for students requiring a reminder of the relevant substantive IP law.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Please contact the online learning team at law.online@ed.ac.uk |
Additional Costs | Students must have regular and reliable access to the Internet. |
Course Delivery Information
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Academic year 2019/20, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
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Seminar/Tutorial Hours 40,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
156 )
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Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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Additional Information (Assessment) |
Student presentation with slides (40%); essay of up to 3,500 words (60%).
The student presentation will be on a set topic relating to the commercial aspects of the course. Students will record their presentation and upload it, with accompanying slides, for marking and feedback.
The essay will be selected from a choice of titles focussing on enforcement-related matters issued after the conclusion of teaching at the end of the semester.
Requirements for all course assessments will be outlined to students within the individual courses at the start of each semester.
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Feedback |
Students will have the opportunity to obtain formative feedback over the course of the semester. The feedback provided will assist students in their preparation for the summative assessment.
Details of the School's feedback policy will be available at the start of the course.
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No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge that covers and integrates the law on how the principal IP rights are created, protected, owned, transacted and enforced in the UK, with discussion of relevant European and international aspects.
- Evaluate mechanisms for protecting, and thereafter exploiting, intellectual property at national, regional and international levels.
- Apply critical analysis and evaluation to key issues arising in relation to commercialisation and enforcement of IP.
- Exercise substantial autonomy and initiative in undertaking reading and research and make informed judgments on issues arising in relation to commercialisation and enforcement of IP.
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Reading List
A detailed list of key resources will be available at the start of the course.
There is no single set textbook for this module, although all students will be provided with a soft copy of Waelde et al, 'Contemporary Intellectual Property: Law and Policy' (OUP). Students will be expected to read widely beyond this text. |
Additional Information
Course URL |
http://edin.ac/1Dwu8Ua |
Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will develop their skills and abilities in:
1. Research and enquiry, through e.g. selecting and deploying appropriate research techniques;
2. Personal and intellectual autonomy, e.g. developing the ability to independently assess the relevance and importance of primary and secondary sources;
3. Communication, e.g. skills in summarising and communicating information and ideas effectively in written form;
4. Personal effectiveness, e.g. working constructively as a member of an online community;
5. Students will also develop their technical/practical skills, throughout the course, e.g. in articulating, evidencing and sustaining a line of argument, and engaging in a convincing critique of another's arguments.
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Special Arrangements |
This course is taught by online learning. |
Additional Class Delivery Information |
This course is taught by online learning. |
Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
Course organiser | Ms Jane Cornwell
Tel: (0131 6)50 2012
Email: Jane.Cornwell@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Clare Polson
Tel: (0131 6)51 9704
Email: Clare.Polson@ed.ac.uk |
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