LAU44016 NEW TRENDS IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate specialised, self-directed knowledge of an area of law through examination of a ‘real-life’ legal research problem or a theme within a research group.
• Collaborate with peers and act in leadership roles.
• Constructively evaluate the work of others.
• Synthesise and evaluate a variety of legal research methods, legal sources, findings and analysis.
• Critically analyse an area of law through independent research.
• Consult with and respond to the needs of research users.
• Effectively communicate research findings.

Module Content

The idea of multi-level, supranational legislation on industrial, literary and artistic property goes back to the end of the 19th century. At that time, international agreements were a natural response to the consequences and challenges posed by the industrial revolution in Western Europe. When individual creators, inventors and enterprises started being increasingly able to distribute and commercially exploit copies of their works and products embodying new technologies and distinctive marks on a cross-border basis, their governments started establishing common standards of protection for such intangible goods.

From then onwards, the definition of minimum standards regarding the scope and enforcement of intellectual property rights has progressively expanded to the entire world. This phenomenon significantly accelerated from 1994 onwards, with the creation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the adoption of a sort of global “constitution” for intellectual property (‘Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights’ or ‘TRIPS’ Agreement, 1994).

Members of this research group will be encouraged to examine the socio-economic, commercial and legal implications of the TRIPS Agreement and of other international agreements including the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Internet treaties (1996). In particular, students will advance their knowledge on issues that evidence the influence of WTO law on jurisdictions which barely had a system of copyright, patent or trademark protection before 1994. Research group activities will allow students to better understand pros and cons of EU regulations and directives which sought to facilitate the goal of a ‘Single Market’ by harmonizing or unifying intellectual property systems on the grounds of international standards.

Drawing on the Intellectual Property Law module (LAU 44072), students will be able to explore new trends related to topics and issues which evidence goals, priorities but also contradictions and problems that national lawmakers and courts, such as the Irish ones, can no longer solve by themselves in light of obligations and limits created under international and EU laws.

Sub-topics may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Access to medicines, patent protection and the right to health
• Biotechnological inventions, patent protection and their impact on morals
• Digital copyright protection and its consequences for Internet freedom and free speech
• Online intermediary liability regimes and their impact on remuneration of content creators
• Overlapping intellectual property rights and their consequences for competition policy
• Copyright implications of artificial intelligence
• Patent law, innovation and artificial intelligence
• Expansion of trademarks’ scope and its consequences for competition policy and freedom of speech
• Trade secrecy as an alternative to intellectual property
• Intellectual property rights in data

Assessment Details

• Individual Project: 85%
• Group Presentation: 15%
• Reflective Journal: Pass/Fail
• Participation: Pass/Fail