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

Second term
Wednesday from 17:15 to 19:15 at 43 Botanique 5

French.

The first aim of the course is to initiate the 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 find the applicable texts and jurisprudences (learning to handle legislative texts and to put jurisprudential texts to good use) and (iii) analyse a concrete situation (how to protect this or that creation for the best?).
Beyond teaching technical notions, the course aims 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 (Evening Programme) :

For the Bachelor in Information and Communication :

For the Bachelor in Economics and Management :

For the Bachelor in Political Sciences: General :

For the Bachelor in Sociology and Anthropology :

None

After an introductory part that (i) explains substantive issues (terminology, economic and historic justification), (ii) proposes an overview of the sources of the main intellectual property rights and (iii) analyses the links between these and other fields of law (competition law for instance), the four main parts of the course are devoted to the systematic study of copyright (and its related rights), rights on distinctive signs (brands and commercial names), the patent and drawings or models. We will also approach specific issues (for instance the relation between community law of free movement of goods and intellectual property rights), and current issues (especially during workshops involving guest speakers).

The course aims to provide the students with an introduction to the system of intellectual property and the main intellectual property rights. Preliminary readings are required for certain sessions. For almost each session, the agenda handed out to students includes jurisprudential illustrations. The lecture is based on many examples, including some out of the news. Students are also invited to respond in writing to questions posted on the website www.ipdigit.eu. Practical questions, sometimes based on criminal records, are put to the students in order to keep the course interactive. Substantive issues (e.g. how to combine freedom of expression and protection of creations) will also be discussed during the sessions devoted to special issues.

The assessment is an oral examination. The students will have a preparation time for the first question; it may be a commentary of a decision of jurisprudence studied in class (and included in the casebook). The other questions aim to check the students' capacity to handle the studied notions and to think in the logic of the intellectual property system.
During the examination, the students have at their disposal the casebook, legislative texts and syllabus (but not other materials available for studying: see below).

See the many sources quoted in the syllabus.
Code of intellectual property, edited by A. Strowel and C. Thiry, collection Codes, pocket edition by Bruylant-Larcier,

Three main supports:
- a syllabus (+/- 220 p.)
- a casebook
- legislative texts
The two first supports are to be found on eSaintLouis.

For the legislative texts, the students may use classic codes and find elsewhere the missing texts. They can also use the Code of intellectual property, edited by A. Strowel and C. Thiry, collection Codes, pocket edition by Bruylant-Larcier, which contains all the international, European, Benelux and Belgian texts that are important for this course.

Other supports:
- Sides
The students will have at their disposal a copy of the slides used in class (however they cannot have them for the examination). They will be made available on iFusl.
- www.ipdigit.eu
Questions and comments discussed during the course and included on www.ipdigit.eu are also considered as part of the course material.