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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2025/2026

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Postgraduate Course: Introduction to Intellectual Property Law (LAWS11497)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Law CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course typeOnline Distance Learning AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis 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.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate an understanding of substantive UK and European patent, copyright and registered trade mark law;
  2. Think critically about patent, copyright and registered trade mark law in practice;
  3. Participate in contemporary debates surrounding patent, copyright and registered trade mark law.
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.
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.
KeywordsIntellectual property; patents; copyright; trade marks
Contacts
Course organiserMs Jane Cornwell
Tel: (0131 6)50 2012
Email: Jane.Cornwell@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Clare Polson
Tel: (0131 6)51 9704
Email: Clare.Polson@ed.ac.uk
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