Face-to-face , first term, 30 hours of theory.

First term
Thursday from 13:30 to 15:30 at 119 Marais 1200
Thursday from 13:30 to 15:30 at 119 Marais 1200
Thursday from 13:30 to 15:30 at 119 Marais 1200
Thursday from 13:30 to 15:30 at 119 Marais 1200

The course is taught in English. The course documents are also in English and students can present a written work in English.

The course has two main objectives:
- to initiate students to the reasoning method specific to intellectual property law. By the end of the course, the student should (i) know the main components of the studied protection systems (conditions, effects, prerogatives and exceptions, duration, etc.), (ii) be able to identify the applicable texts and jurisprudences (learning to manipulate legislative texts and put jurisprudential texts to good use) and (iii) analyse a concrete situation (how to protect this or that creation for the best?).
- to highlight some general issues encountered in intellectual property law as well as the stakes of society (relation between intellectual property law and freedom of expression, challenges posed by internet, etc.).

For the Bachelor in Law :

For the Bachelor in Law :

Intellectual property (IP) is an area of law that has long been framed by supra-national rules. This course focuses on international and European law aspects of IP and is based on international and European legal instruments (international Treaties, EU Regulations and Directives).

After some introductory sessions on IP in general (overview of the basic features of IP, rationale, international sources, etc.), the next sessions serve to present the building blocks (conditions of protection, scope of protection and exceptions, ownership, duration, etc.) of the most common IP rights: copyright, trademark, patent and design.

Other sessions are used to study and discuss selected issues, which usually raise public policy questions and/or relate to other bodies of law (IP and freedom of expression, overlap of protection, etc.). These issues will be discussed on the basis of court decisions. At least one conference with a speaker from acadrmia or an IP practioner is includes in the course program.

The students are requested to carry out preliminary readings. For almost each session, the agenda handed out to students at the beginning of the term includes reading materials. The textbook used for the course is : A. Kur and Th. Dreier, European Intellectual Property Law, Text, Cases and Materials, Edward Elgar, 2013. The lecture is based on many examples, including from the news. Practical questions, sometimes based on elements taken from concrete cases, are submitted to the students during sessions to make the course more interactive. Students are also invited to participate by posting brief answers to questions presented on www.ipdigit.eu. Substantive issues (e.g. how to combine freedom of expression and protection of creations) will also be discussed during the sessions devoted to selected issues.

Students are assessed throughout the semester: their participation to sessions, as well as their answers to questions via the www.ipdigit.eu platform, account for 3 points out of 20. For the examination (out of 17 points), students have the choice between the presentation of the course material or the preparation of a paper (in English). The students presenting the course material will be examined orally (first question with preparation time (+/- 20 min.) followed by subsidiary questions). The students can use the collection of legislation and decisions (but no other supports).
Students who choose to present a piece of work are asked to prepare a rather short paper in English (maximum 3000 words) on an issue (rather than a theme). They should rely on a court decision, a draft law, a legal issue discussed in the press, etc.. The choice of the subject to be treated must be discussed with the teacher. The work must be submitted one week before the date set for the oral exam and is the subject of an interview. The students who choose to prepare the paper do not have to study the course materials.

- Required reading : A. Kur and Th. Dreier, European Intellectual Property Law, Text, Cases and Materials, Edward Elgar, 2013.
In addition to the proposed readings (see collection of texts), some general works in English can be useful:
- F. Abbott, Th. Cottier and F. Gurry, The International Intellectual Property System, Commentary and Materials, Kluwer, 1999
- L. Bently and B. Sherman, Intellectual Property Law, Oxford UP, 3rd ed., 2008.
- G. Dinwoodie with W. Hennessey & S. Perlmutter, International Intellectual Property Law and Policy, LexisNexis Publishing, 2d ed., 2008.
- W. Cornish and D. Llewelyn, Intellectual Property: Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks and Allied Rights, Thomson, 5th ed., 2007.
- P. Goldstein, International Intellectual Property Law : Cases and Materials, Foundation Press, 2001.
- F. Scott Kieff and R. Nack, International, United States and European Intellectual Property, Selected Source Material, Aspen, 2011.

Different course materials are prepared for the students: (1) a collection of texts (mainly court decisions that should be prepare), (2) a collection of legislation, (3) computer presentations for each session. The different materials are made available to students via the eSaintLouis platform.