Unit name | Introduction to Intellectual Property |
---|---|
Unit code | LAWD20043 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Professor. Plomer |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None. |
Co-requisites |
None. |
School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
The unit will provide a primarily 'black-letter' overview of the core elements of the UK/EU intellectual property regime, focusing on trade marks and passing off; patents and copyright law. As such, it will provide a basic overview for students who want a broad-brush understanding of the discipline, whilst serving as a pre-requisite to the Advanced Intellectual Property unit which will cover additional specialist areas of intellectual property, such as breach of confidence and privacy; registered and unregistered designs; geographical indications etc, as well as consideration of theories underpinning intellectual property rights.
Topics covered are:
As an introductory unit to a highly complex, diverse and fast-moving area of law, while the intended learning outcomes will include that a student will acquire a rudimentary understanding of the rationales for intellectual property rights, the primary focus of the unit will be to inculcate a broad practical knowledge of the 3 core intellectual property rights, trademark, patent and copyright, so that a student can apply their knowledge in a concisely reasoned and rigorous fashion to problem-based scenarios.
Students will be familiar with:
Students will be able to:
By the end of the unit, students should have sufficient knowledge of the 3 core intellectual property rights, trademark, patent and copyright, to be able to engage in meaningful discussion of the wider implications of those intellectual property rights in later undergraduate units, notably Advanced Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law, or postgraduate study, where an understanding of the 'black letter' law is key to addressing the political, social and economic implications of intellectual property rights.
There will be 20 x 1hr lectures, 7 x 2-hr seminars. Lectures will provide the basic structure around which the assigned reading for the unit will be based. The seminars will take a Socratic approach with students expected to undertake the assigned reading and be prepared to discuss the material.
Summative assessment: one three-hour closed book examination in May/June. Students will also have the opportunity to write up to two formative essays in the course of the year.
The assessments will assess all of the intended learning outcomes for this unit.
H. Norman (2014) Intellectual Property Law Directions, Oxford University Press (2nd Ed.) ISBN:9780199688104