LL.M. (International and European Intellectual Property Law) Modules.
Note this course will commence in 2013/14
At Trinity College we offer a diverse range of modules, enough to ensure that all our students have their needs and interests catered for. Students choose from an extensive list of LL.M (International and European Intellectual Property Law) modules. The Law School Committee reserves the right to fix a quota for any particular module, or to withdraw a module, or in a particular academic year, to introduce an additional option or to decline to offer a module.
More Module Descriptions to Follow Shortly
Arbitration & Alternative Dispute Resolution
(LA7083) 10 ECTS
The module explores the consensual and non-consensual processes available for resolving commercial disputes without recourse to the courts. The balancing of public policy considerations, such as party autonomy and access to justice, is traced through the legal framework for, and practice of, the resolution of commercial disputes by arbitration and various alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation. The module compares and contrasts arbitration and mediation both with conventional litigation and with each other.
Module Lecturer: Mr. Barry Mansfield BL
The Chinese Legal System In Comparative Perspective
(LA7080) 10 ECTS
The Chinese legal system is of great interest from a comparative law perspective. Law in China had a completely different role traditionally from that in Western society. During the early decades of the 20th century, Western influences predominated. In the years since the establishment of the Peoples’ Republic of China in 1949, the role of law has undergone successive radical changes as China’s social and economic order and its place in the world have been so profoundly transformed. The module examines the contemporary legal system in China. It analyses its constitutional and administrative law foundations, its economic law, intellectual property, tort code and criminal justice norms and practices. It considers how public and private international law fit into the Chinese legal system and addresses issues of human rights and the wider debate on cultural relativism.
Module Lecturer: Professor William Binchy
Copyright and Innovation, Online
(LA70XX) 10 ECTS
On the one hand, copyright law is often justified on the basis that it incentivizes authors to create beneficial works. On the other, it is just as often criticized on the basis that these protections unnecessarily restrict further innovation. This tension is most apparent online. Drawing on legislation, caselaw and scholarship from Ireland, the UK, the EU, the US, Australia and Canada, the aim of this course is to identify possible resolutions of these contentious issues. The course will be taught entirely through materials available online.
Module Lecturer: Dr. Eoin O'Dell BL
Creative Works and Intellectual Property
(LA70XX) 10 ECTS
This module is concerned with the recognition and exploitation of legal rights in creative works such as lterature, music, theatre and art. It focuses mainly on how copyright is recognised in these types of works, with a focus on Ireland but includes comparative and international law perspectives. The copyright law regime will be considered against a backdrop of an analysis of copyright law’s history, philosophy and theoretical foundations.
Module Lecturer: Ms. Eva Nagle BL
EU Competition Law
(LA7010) 10 ECTS
This course presumes a basic acquaintance with the institutional law of the European Communities (e.g. the various roles of the institutions and the types of legislation) and focuses on the substantive law of competition applicable to undertakings. The course focuses on the EC Treaty articles on competition and on the programmatic secondary legislation, much of it recent. Secondarily, reference will be made to the Commission's Notices on competition policy and the decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Communities and decisions of the European Commission. Some attention will be given to Article 90 (EC) and to the Irish law on competition, which in substance, but not in institutional structure, mirrors the EC system.
Module Lecturer: Dr. Diarmuid Rossa Phelan SC
EU Consumer Law
(LA7042) 10 ECTS
The EU is comprised of circa 500 million consumers based in 27 different countries. Although drawn from different traditions and cultures, all of these myriad consumers are supposedly the ultimate beneficiaries of the process of market integration in the EU (insofar as that marketplace provides them with high quality goods and services at optimal prices).
This module is designed to examine the respective roles played by EU law-makers and enforcers in protecting the consumers of goods and services throughout the European marketplace. A closely related issue is whether the blueprint for EU law and policy has been adequately designed to turn its 500 million consumers from market passengers into market drivers. With all of this in mind, the course focuses on the following ten subject areas: (i) The Evolution of EU Consumer Law and Policy; (ii) The Paradigm of the Informed EU Consumer; (iii) Consumer Contract Law; (iv) Sale of Goods and Services (including Electronic Commerce); (v) Product Liability and Product Safety; (vi) EU Travel and Tourism law; (vii) Unfair Commercial Practices; (viii) Consumer Credit Law and Practice; (ix) Litigation, Redress and Enforcement; (x) Competition Policy and EU Consumers.
Module Lecturer: Mr. Alex Schuster BL
European Energy Law
(LA7077) 10 ECTS
The EU pursues a strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy. The main energy we use is electricity. Therefore, within the EU, electricity must be generated, transported and used in a competitive and sustainable way. All these stages need regulation. This course will focus on the European energy law and policy. Topics will include the historic development of EU energy policy, the legal bases for regulation in the energy sector, the internal energy market, energy efficiency, the external dimension EU programmes on energy, green vehicles, trans-European networks, European legislation on energy sources like nuclear and renewable energy and security of supply. The interplay with competition law will be addressed. Students are expected to participate actively in class and to prepare a substantial research paper.
Module Lecturer: Dr Bilun Mueller
European Intellectual Property Law
(LA7014) 10 ECTS
The protection of intellectual property law rights raises a multiplicity of issues in Community law. On the one hand, the recognition and protection of such rights is an essential part of a functioning and dynamic market economy. On the other, such rights may present a direct threat to the unification of the internal market. This course will examine the attempts made to reconcile these two aspects of intellectual property rights both by the Court of Justice and by the Community legislative powers. Topics covered will include the application of the EU Treaty provisions and secondary legislation applicable to copyright, patents, trade marks and industrial design rights. The course will be of particular use to those wishing to work in a commercial environment, however any student seeking to understand how Community law works in practice will find it relevant.
Module Lecturer: Ms. Imelda Higgins BL
Freedom of Expression and Intellectual Property, Online
(LA70XX) 10 ECTS
Most Intellectual Property (IP) rules are restrictions upon Freedom of Expression (F0E). For example, copyright and trademark law keep people from publishing words, images, music, and so on. The aim of this course is to examine the policies which underlie IP protections, and to measure them against countervailing constitutional considerations such as F0E. Drawing on legislation, caselaw and scholarship from Ireland, the UK, the EU, the US, Australia and Canada, this will establish specific rationales for the validity of IP protections, and identify the appropriate legal doctrines to ensure that IP does not disproportionately infringe F0E. The course will be taught entirely through materials available online.
Module Lecturer: Dr. Eoin O'Dell BL
Intellectual Property: Litigation and Enforcement
(LA70XX) 10 ECTS
This module will involve an in depth analysis of the European and Global perspective on the protection of intellectual property rights connected with the business of professional sport; (1) The first part of the course deals with the protection of the rights of sports persons in respect of their image rights, focusing on the approaches amongst others in Canada, the United States and Europe. Fundamentally it will consider the role of the law in protecting athletes in controlling the way in which their images are used in endorsement arrangements. (2) The second part will examine the protection afforded to sports bodies in controlling the merchandising of their brand, images and logos. (3) The third part looks at the protection afforded to major sports wear manufacturers in terms of control of their brand and logos and considers recent case law in which sports wear manufacturers have sought to prevent other companies from using their logos, designs or inventions or equivalents thereof. (4) The fourth part looks at the application of intellectual property law in the context of sponsorship arrangements, focusing in particular on the position of the organisers of major sporting events (5) The final part looks at the phenomenon of ambush marketing and assesses how intellectual property law can be used to limit its impact.
Module Lecturer: Mr Paul Coughlan BL
Intellectual Property Law and Sport
(LA70XX) 10 ECTS
This module examines practical aspects of invoking the various forms of intellectual property rights against third parties. In particular it reviews procedural and evidential issues that typically arise in intellectual property litigation, the interlocutory and final orders that provide redress to successful litigants, and jurisdictional questions which may influence where proceedings are commenced.
Module Lecturer: Professor Neville Cox
International and Comparative analysis of Unfair Competition and Trade Mark Law
(LA7078) 10 ECTS
This module will encompass a comparative analysis of the origin and economic function of a trade marks, including analysis of the evolution of unfair competition in the US and evolving European jurisprudence in relation to dilution and tarnishment of marks.
Module Lecturer: Ms Gemma O'Farrell
International Dispute Resolution
(LA7068) 10 ECTS
The aim of the module is to provide the students with an understanding of the consensual and non-consensual processes available for resolving civil and commercial disputes with a multi-jurisdictional aspect. The balancing of public policy considerations such as state sovereignty and party autonomy (to agree to resolve issues in a certain matter) is traced through the legal framework for and practice of the resolution of international commercial disputes. The module compares and contrasts conventional litigation before state courts with the growing areas of alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation.
Module Lecturer: Mr. Barry Mansfield BL
International Economic Law
(LA7007) 10 ECTS
International Economic Law concerns the legal regulation of trade between states. The courses focuses on the organisations put in place to regulate economic relationships between states most notably, the World Trade Organisation and the international treaties, which it enforces such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The course examines trade in goods, services and the international regulation of intellectual property. Consideration is given to the international rules governing free trade such as most favoured nation status, national treatment rules and rules against tariffs and other barriers to inter state trade. Defences to breaches of these rules will be looked at. Finally the negotiation of trade agreements and the rules relating to international trade disputes are reviewed.
Module Lecturer: Mr. TP Kennedy
International and European Tax Law
(LA7031) 10 ECTS
This module considers recent developments in the fast moving and increasingly important area of international and E.U. Tax Law. The module examines broad concepts and policy issues and does not require a prior background in Revenue or Tax Law. The module comprises three components:
• The first component is concerned with International Tax Law and its relationship to both public and private international law. The role of treaties in this area is considered, with particular reference to the O.E.C.D. and U.N. Model Conventions. Issues that arise in relation to treaty interpretation are examined and recent initiatives undertaken by the O.E.C.D. are considered
• The second component is concerned with E.U. Tax Law and examines how the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice has clarified manner in which the obligations created by the E.U. Treaty have the potential to affect Member State taxation. Key trends in the development of taxation policy at E.U. level, and the likely impact on taxation at Member State level is considered
• The third component examines the interaction of E.U. and International Tax Law.
Module Lecturer: Mr. Niall O'Hanlon BL
International Trade Law
(LA7050) 10 ECTS
International Trade Law draws on certain issues of International Economic Law and Public International Law. It builds on some of the material covered in the International Economic Law but can be taken independently of it. This course will examine a number of controversial trade issues and considers the approach of law and regulation to them. The course commences with a consideration of the issue of development and the special rules applicable to developing nations. It then moves on to look at the issues surrounding international trade and agriculture, the conflicts that can arise between international environmental law and international trade law and finally will examine issues of international trade and competition law.
Module Lecturer: Mr. TP Kennedy
Internet Law and Regulation
(LA7043) 10 ECTS
The Internet occupies an important place in our modern world but its free development and cross-border nature raise difficult questions concerning law and regulation. While technology moves rapidly, legal and regulatory mechanisms have not been able to match that pace and much of what has become accepted practice in relation to Internet regulation falls into the grey area of soft law.
The objective of this course is to permit students to develop an understanding of the area which will enable them to adopt a searching approach to the challenges posed by the Internet and other electronic media in terms of both the application of existing laws to an electronic age and the difficulty in obtaining a co-ordinated international approach to regulation of the Internet. This course will begin with a consideration of the origins of the Internet which will give an insight into relevant regulatory institutions such as ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and WIPO (The World Intellectual Property Organisation) and domestic Irish institutions such as the IEDR (the Irish domain registry). The course will then consider a range of issues under the umbrella of Internet governance such as electronic contract formation, consumer protection issues relating to e-commerce, defamation and the Internet, the regulation of website domain names and the legal response to issues such as cybercrime and spam.
Module Lecturer: Dr. Deirdre Ahern
Law and Bioethics
(LA7081) 10 ECTS
Bioethics is the study of the ethical and moral implications of new biological discoveries and biomedical advances. This module examines the way in which law should respond to the challenges presented by these advances and, in particular, the extent to which the state should regulate individual access to certain technologies. Students are expected to read in advance of class and encouraged to engage in discussion with a view to developing their understanding of these controversial issues. As well as using traditional legal materials the course will draw on relevant work from the fields of philosophy, sociology and politics. The topics covered will include the sale and mandatory donation of organs, issues in assisted human reproduction such as surrogacy and donor anonymity, assisted suicide, genetic enhancement and diminishment, and intellectual property in human genetic material.
Module Lecturer: Ms. Andrea Mulligan
Principles of Corporate Insolvency and Rescue
(LA7059) 10 ECTS
This course will consider the framework and objectives of corporate insolvency law and the balance that must be struck in this area of the law so as to serve corporate as well as broader public policy and social ends. The course will seek to develop an understanding of the key practice areas of Irish insolvency law:- examinerships, liquidations, receiverships and will also consider schemes of arrangement and personal bankruptcy. The course will examine the remedies available to creditors and employees of insolvent entities; the distribution of assets and the preferential treatment of certain classes of creditors and the policy considerations and rationale underpinning the legislation and jurisprudence in these areas. The role and duties of directors and the sanctions available against directors and their personal assets together with considering the role carried out by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and other regulatory authorities will also be examined. The course will also consider aspects of cross border and international insolvency law with a particular focus on comparative insolvency processes in England and the USA.
Module Lecturer: Ms. Marsha Coghlan
Takeover Regulation
(LA7082) 10 ECTS
This module introduces students to the regulatory framework which applies to the acquisition of public listed companies in Ireland and the EU. It provides a theoretical background to this regulation by examining the reasons why takeovers occur and considering whether they are generally beneficial or efficient. A prior knowledge of Irish or European company law is necessary.
The module will analyse various important facets of takeover regulation which have been introduced across the EU through the Takeovers Directive (2004/25) as part of an attempt to harmonise takeover regulation and create a level playing field. Students will be engaged in a debate about their theoretical value and their practical implementation. The module will also examine the most important transactional aspects of the takeover process in Ireland and the UK from the perspective of the regulator and the practitioner. These include mandatory bids, frustrating actions, squeeze outs and sell outs, communications during a takeover and dealing restrictions
Module Lecturer: Professor Blanaid Clarke
Research Dissertation
(LA7047) 30 ECTS
The research dissertation, of a maximum of 25,000 words, may be on any theme, subject to the approval of the Director of the LL.M. degree programme and the availability of a supervisor. The dissertation counts for 33% of the degree or the equivalent of three modules. It must be submitted on or before 28 June 2013.
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