Patent Law: Sci in Courtroom

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Science in the Crosshairs: patent-law tackles the conflicts between business, governments, and the common good. Scientific research brings major life-changing breakthroughs such as the current COVID vaccines. Marketing such scientific success often results in conflicts of interest between business plans of companies, political strategies of governments, and the wishes of the general public. This course shows patent law as a professional tool to manage these conflicts. This course is designed for students who are ready to enter the international tensions between diverging interests which each support their claims by scientific discoveries. Because only a thorough understanding of the scientific principles can offer legal protection, students will acquire an in-depth understanding of diverse scientific fields, such as vaccine design, genetics, drug development, or global drug availability. Because the conflicting international interests are resolved by legal disputes, students will learn how patent law offers a global framework to negotiate, resolve, and litigate the application of scientific knowledge. Hence, this course offers students concrete real-life case studies in patent law which introduce both, key scientific concepts especially in the life-sciences and drug development, as well as essential legal concepts such as patent eligibility, infringement, or prosecution, and the structure of the patent system in the United States and its global affiliates. This course does not have any scientific or legal prerequisites.