Knowledge and Understanding

At the end of the course, students should:

·             Be able to discuss and analyse the varieties of intellectual property and their rationales for protection under and EC law

·             Be able to demonstrate understanding of the interplay of intellectual property law with other areas of commercial law

·             Show critical appreciation of the relative importance of different forms of intellectual property in different commercial sectors

·             Be able to understand and discuss the policy behind legislative developments and to assess their commercial significance

Skills

At the end of the course, students should have furthered their command of the following skills so as to have the ability to:

·             Carry out research on a topic which has both doctrinal and commercial aspects and use a variety of sources

·             Demonstrate an appropriate choice of methodology and appreciation of the relative authority of sources

·             Appraise the legal impact of intellectual property on businesses in the fashion and catering sectors

·             Construct a sustained legal argument using statement, explanation, analysis, criticism and proposal

Survey/Review of Intellectual Property Law

Intellectual Property in Employment

·             Nature of employment, distinction employment/contracts for services/agency

·             Employees’ inventions

·             Employees and confidentiality

·             Employees and copyright works

·             Problems in the international sphere

Intellectual Property in Fashion

·             Background scenario of industry (fast-moving nature, need to follow trends, commercial reluctance to sue)

·             Drawbacks to all IP rights in this area

·             Copyright in fashion creations

·             Confidentiality

·             Problems of passing off

·             Trade marks and brands

Unfair Commercial Practices – B2C Directive and B2C and B2B Regulations

Intellectual Property in the Restaurant and Catering Industries

·             Passing off, especially as regards get-up of outlets and appearance of food products

·             Trade marks, especially non-traditional signs

·             Geographical indications

·             Copyright

Note, although the emphasis will be on UK/EU law, the course will draw upon case law from other jurisdictions by way of illustration and example.

8 x 3-hour seminars.  The seminars will be interactive and students will be expected to come prepared for the seminar and engage actively in discussions

One of the main intellectual property textbooks from:

Bainbridge, D. I. Intellectual Property (7^th Edition, Pearson Longman, 2009)

Bently, L. & Sherman, B. Intellectual Property (3^rd Edition, OUP, 2009)

Colston, C. & Middleton, K. Modern Intellectual Property (2^nd Edition, Cavendish, 2005)

MacQueen, H., Waelde, C. & Laurie, G. Contemporary Intellectual Property (OUP, 2008)

Torremans, P. Holyoak & Torremans Intellectual Property Law (5^th Edition, OUP, 2008)

Other selected texts

Dinwoodie, G. B. & Janis, M. D. Trademark Law and Theory: A Handbook of Contemporary Research

Flint , M., Fitzpatrick, N. & Thorne, C. A User’s Guide to Copyright (6^th Edition, Tottel, 2006) (selected chapters)

Journals

Copyright World (This journal has a number of excellent items on copyright and design rights by Simon Clarke.  It is not available on the usual law databases; we envisage obtaining licensed copies of the relevant articles for the library)

European Intellectual Property Review (available of Westlaw)

Intellectual Property Quarterly (available of Westlaw)

Journal of Business Law (available on Westlaw)

Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (one of the Oxford journals available via Athens )