Postgraduate Course: Legal Aspects of Managing Intellectual Property (LAWS11339)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| 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 module will examine the legal, procedural and related considerations relevant to management of the principal intellectual property ("IP") rights.
The course will address how the principal IP rights are created, identified, protected, owned, transacted, exploited and enforced. Aspects of competition law affecting the commercialisation of IP rights will also be studied.
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 module will involve the consideration of a range of legal issues drawing from a range of subject areas, including patent and trade mark practice, contract, commercial law, competition law, international private law and enforcement. |
| Course description |
This module will examine the processes involved in identifying intellectual property owned by commercial concerns and will consider the detailed law and processes relating to ownership and registration of relevant rights at the UK, European and international levels. The module will also analyse different ways of commercialising and transacting in IP rights. The module will consider how infringements of intellectual property rights may be monitored and enforced, and will address complexities in the enforcement of IP 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 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 sessions, 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 in the seminars.
It is very important to understand that this module 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 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 session's discussions. Where possible within your personal programme of study it is particularly recommended that students should have either previously taken the "Intellectual Property: Industrial Property" module or be taking this course at the same time as "Managing IP". Students can use the "open discussion" page each week to ask any questions of their tutor about matters of substantive IP law relevant to that week's study.
All students taking this module should have or will be sent a copy of the textbook Waelde et al, Contemporary Intellectual Property: Law and Policy (OUP). 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 reading for students who are not familiar with substantive IP law.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Please contact the distance learning team at escript.support@ed.ac.uk |
| Additional Costs | Students must have regular and reliable access to the Internet. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, 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) |
One essay of up to 4,000 words (80%); contribution to weekly online discussions throughout the semester, assessed by way of participation portfolio and reflective statement (20%).
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| Feedback |
Students can expect to receive timely feedback on their assessments. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Recognise the complexities in identifying and managing IP within commercial concerns.
- Evaluate the most appropriate mechanisms for protecting, and thereafter exploiting, intellectual property at national, regional and international levels.
- Make informed judgements as to the role of competition law in this context.
- Analyse and apply the relevant international private law rules to transnational intellectual property disputes, and recognise and evaluate key legal and evidential issues arising in IP disputes.
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Reading List
A list of key module readings will be available in advance of the module. Detailed reading lists are then available each week.
There is no single set textbook for this module, although all students will be provided with a 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 module, e.g. in articulating, evidencing and sustaining a line of argument, and engaging in a convincing critique of anothers' arguments.
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| Special Arrangements |
This course is taught by online distance learning. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
This course is taught by online distance learning. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Ms Jane Cornwell
Tel: (0131 6)50 2012
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Clare Polson
Tel: (0131 6)51 9704
Email: |
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