European Trademark and Design Law

This module will cover EU Trade Mark Law and will focus on Community Directives and Regulations and the enforcement and protection of these rights within the EU including the Trade Mark Recast Directive. The module will analyse legislation in light of relevant case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and will consider the criteria for obtaining protection for a trade mark, as well as the limits to protection in the content of infringement proceedings. The module will consider the variety of forms of registration available for trade marks within the EU as well as revocation and proceedings for invalidity. Topics covered include: the acquisition of trade marks; the rights conferred by a trade mark and the limits to those rights under EU Law. The module will also addresses other issues affecting the use of trade marks, including in particular, the law on misleading and comparative advertising and the law on unfair commercial practices, the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin and the relationship between trade marks and domain names. It will also deal with parallel importations and exhaustion of rights. This module will also examine the registered trade mark and design regimes at an EU and national level.

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:

• Compare, critically analyse and debate the approaches to trade mark protection at a national and European level
• Identify the applicable EU legislation in the areas of: trade marks, unfair commercial practices, comparative advertising, geographical indications and designations of origin, domain names and exhaustion of rights
• Interpret and analyse that legislation in the light of relevant and developing case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union
• Give clients practical advice on the nature and extent of the rights conferred under EU law in the above identified areas
• Use their knowledge of EU law to interpret and apply national implementing legislation in these areas
• Analyse existing problems and deficiencies in the EU’s legislative framework governing these areas and the main challenges to be addressed by future legislation
• Apply critical analysis and problem-solving skills to essay and problem based questions on current Trade Marks issues in the EU
• Explain the interaction between trade mark and design laws
• Review different models of design protection and compare approaches to design protection.

Assessment: 

• Coursework in the form of 5000 word essay.

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