Postgraduate Course: Introduction to Intellectual Property Law (LAWS11497)
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 provide an introduction to intellectual property law. After introducing general topics and themes, it will cover patents, copyright and registered trade marks, all with a focus on UK and European law. |
| Course description |
This course will study patent, copyright and registered trade mark law and related policy issues. The focus will be on UK and European law. After introducing general topics and themes, through consideration of relevant legislation, case law and literature, students will develop their understanding of the central legal issues relating to each of patent, copyright and registered trade mark law. Students will also form a critical appreciation of areas of controversy within these areas of 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 | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, 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
(
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) |
The course will be assessed by:
1. three sets of timed online MCQs (each worth 10%; collectively worth 30% of the course mark) - each set of timed online MCQs will cover the three principal teaching blocks on the course in turn, i.e. patents, copyright and registered trade marks. They will be made available for completion by the students at the end of each teaching block (i.e. end of weeks 4, 7 and 10). The MCQs will test students' substantive learning across the three weeks spent on each teaching block, including some mini-problem scenarios;
2. one 4,000-word essay (70%) - the essay will focus on cross-cutting themes developed across the course, and will ask students to engage with IP rights from across the three teaching blocks (patents, copyright, registered trade marks). Essay topics will be released early in the semester. Hand-in will be scheduled in accordance with the usual post-semester LLM deadlines.
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| Feedback |
Students will have the opportunity to obtain formative feedback over the course of the semester from their online discussion participation and a formative exercise, to be scheduled at a convenient point during the course of the semester. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of substantive UK and European patent, copyright and registered trade mark law;
- Think critically about patent, copyright and registered trade mark law in practice;
- Participate in contemporary debates surrounding patent, copyright and registered trade mark law.
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Reading List
The set textbook for this course will be:
A Brown, S. Kheria, J. Cornwell, and M. Iljadica, Contemporary Intellectual Property: Law and Policy, 6th edn, Oxford University Press, 2023
To supplement this if wished, any of of the following texts can also be used:
L. Bently, B. Sherman, D. Gangjee, and P. Johnson, Intellectual Property Law, 6th edn, Oxford University Press, 2022;
D. Llewelyn and T. Aplin, Intellectual Property: Patents, Copyright, Trade Marks and Allied Rights, 9th edn, Sweet & Maxwell, 2019;
P. Torremans, Holyoak and Torremans: Intellectual Property, 9th edn, Oxford University Press, 2019; or
T. Aplin and J. Davis, Intellectual Property Law: Text, Cases and Materials, 4th edn, Oxford University Press, 2021.
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Additional Information
| 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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| Keywords | Intellectual property; patents; copyright; trade marks |
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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