International Intellectual Property Law

2 units

Enrollment limit: 24. This course will largely focus on the international impact of the TRIPS (i.e. Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement, adopted in 1994 as a part of the Uruguay Round of GATTnegotiations. The focus of the course generally will be the ongoing debate between developed and developing countries over how intellectual property law affects innovation, economic development, and cultural preservation. Specifically, the first part of the course will introduce private and the public law topics that frame the substantive rules of intellectual property law--territoriality, national treatment, choice of law, treaties and trade. The second part of the course will consider the substantive rules of intellectual property (copyright, patent, trademark, unfair competition, trade secrets, as well as certain sui generis laws) from a comparative and international perspective. This part of the course will consider not only the TRIPS agreement, but also the Paris and Berne Conventions of the 19th Century. The second part of the course will also touch on selected regional agreements, with particular attention paid to EU Regulations and Directives. The course will be taught by means of a casebook containing series of practical problems and regular class attendance and preparation are required. While there are no specific course pre-requisites, some previous introductory IP coursework is strongly recommended and some knowledge of IP law and policy will be assumed. 2 units.