Fall Semester (October 1 - December 21, 2018)
Seminar
International and EU Intellectual Property Law 2018
(4 CFU)
Course description
Survey of the different legal mechanisms for protecting Intellectual Property - including
patent, trademark, copyright, and related rights - International and EU Intellectual Property
Law is intended for students who desire a general exposure to Intellettuale Property law, in
both the international and the European Union framework.
We will cover the techniques of international patent regulation, international agreements
concerning patents, including the Paris Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the
European Patent Convention, and the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs)
Agreement; a study of patent reform issues including domestic patent reform legislation and ongoing harmonization; an analysis of the Unitary Patent system and the Unified Patent Court
in Europe; a review of selected topics with comparative study from viewpoint of the United
States, China, Japan, South Korea and Europe. Topics include patentability requirements,
infringement, remedies, patent prosecution issues, and patent transactions. We shall discuss
selected patent case-law.
International and EU regulation of trademarks shall be examined in the perspective of
registration and enforcement, with a special focus on “Made in Italy” and the protection
against counterfeiting and piracy. We shall discuss selected trademark case-law.
International law of copyright will be addressed in the perspective of application of key
international law principles, such as: territoriality, national treatment and reciprocity,
jurisdiction, and choice of law in copyright case law, contracts and combinations (including
compulsory licenses and performing rights societies). We will introduce international
instruments for the protection of copyright and related rights; special problems such as P2P
file sharing and technological protection measures; multilateral and bilateral enforcement
issues; and unilateral approaches to combating piracy.
We shall examine the updated Reports by WIPO on major Countries worldwide as IP rights
holder, including WIPO Country Profiles. We shall also evaluate with Experts and Guest
Speakers the opportunities for Investing in Research and Innovation in Italy, the rights and the
protection of “Made in Italy”, inter alia, the “Horizon 2020” Agenda, the “Creative Europe
Projects”.
A special focus will be made on the protection of intellectual property in China, including
how to protect IP rights in China and Chinese courts’ case law.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this course, successful students will:
- have a basic knowledge of the intellectual property principles;
- understand relevant international law principles, primary international IP treaties and regulatory authorities;
- be aware of the regulatory framework for patent and trademark;
- explore how copyright is managed individually and collectively;
- be aware of main issues concerning the international enforcement of IP, especially in the European Union;
- explore advanced comparative law topics, in patent, trademark and copyright;
- be aware of the relationship between IP regulation and the protection of fundamental rights and liberties in Cyberspace;
- identify legal issues in actual and/or hypothetical cases;
- improve oral and written communication skills through legal writing and argumentation in English;
- master the research tools and materials to learn more about intellectual property law.
Learning Activities
Classes will be structured to foster interactivity, using lectures, discussions, student
presentations, cases, etc.
For the above stated objectives to be reached, students must accept certain responsibilities:
- Attend class, be punctual. Time allotted to meeting in class is little and precious;
- Read the assigned material BEFORE the class, in which it is to be discussed;
- Be prepared to participate fully and actively in class discussions and projects;
- Take notes during class as appropriate;
- Have all assigned readings and notes at each class session;
- Perform the research necessary to do writing assignments for the class;
- Meet with the professor to discuss any difficulty you may encounter during the seminar;
- Interact in class and ask questions as much as possible.
Assessment
Attendance in class is compulsory to be admitted to the final written examination.
The evaluation of students achievement of the learning objectives will be done on a pass/fail
basis and will be based upon: the final written exam (40%), class attendance (30%) and
participation in class (30%).
Attendance policy
Attendance in class is mandatory. To be admitted to the final exam, students must attend no
less than 2/3 of scheduled class meetings.
Office Hours - Tuesdays 16:00-17:00, by appointment via email, at Room 234.
Suggested textbooks
DANIEL C. K. CHOW – EDWARD LEE, International Intellectual Property, WESTThomson
Reuters, last ed., USA.
The reading assignments indicated below are mandatory for the successful attendance
of the seminar. For all reading materials, please visit the INTERNATIONAL AND EU
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW page online.
Calendar
Topics and Reading Assignments
1. INTRODUCTION TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW (Tuesday 24
October 2017)
Reading assignment (for all meetings in Class):
WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION, What is Intellectual
Property? Fields of Intellectual Property Protection, 2017.
2. THE SYSTEM OF INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN UNION
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW. WHY HAS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
GONE INTERNATIONAL? (Friday, 27 October 2017)
Reading assignment:
D. C. K. CHOW – E. LEE, International Intellectual Property, pp. 4-18
and http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/training/index.html
http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/training/training_3.html
3. INTERNATIONAL AND EU REGULATION OF TRADEMARKS, FAMOUS
MARKS AND GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATORS (Tuesday, 31 October 2017)
Reading assignment:
D. C. K. CHOW – E. LEE, International Intellectual Property, pp. 441-450
and http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/ (The International Trademark System).
4. THE PROTECTION OF TRADE MARKS AND ORIGIN MARKING in THE
EU. DISCUSSION OF CASE STUDIES (Friday, 3 November 2017)
Reading assignment:
https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/trade-marks-basics (Legal Texts relevant to
Trade marks in the European Union)
and WIPO, Smell, Sound and Taste – Getting a Sense of Non-Traditional Marks.
5. IP RIGHTS AND ENFORCEMENT UNDER TRIPS (Tuesday, 7 November 2017)
Reading assignment:
D. C. K. CHOW – E. LEE, International Intellectual Property, pp. 694-708.
6. THE LAW OF PATENT. REGISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF
INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN PATENTS (Friday, 10 November 2017)
Reading assignment:
WIPO - Global Innovation Index 2017
http://www.wipo.int/publications/en/details.jsp?id=4193
and
WIPO - Statistical Country Profiles
http://www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/statistics/country_profile/
7. R&D INVESTMENT. HOW TO MANAGE IPR APPLICATION
SUCCESSFULLY (Tuesday, 14 November 2017)
Special Guest Co-Lecturer: Dr. Francesca Moscone, Partner of Società Italiana
Brevetti, http://www.sib.it/en/
Reading assignment:
WIPO, Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights - Chapter 4, www.wipo.int/aboutip/en/iprm/pdf/ch4.pdf.
http://www.wipo.int/about-wipo/en/dgo/
8. THE INTERNATIONAL AND EU REGULATION OF COPYRIGHT
(Friday, 17 November 2017)
Reading assignment:
D. C. K. CHOW – E. LEE, International Intellectual Property, pp. 84-89,
and pp. 213-221 on Moral Rights.
9. THE INTERESSENCE BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL IP AND COMPETITION
POLICY (Tuesday, 21 November 2017)
Special Guest Co-Lecturer: Hon. Cons. Gabriella Muscolo, Italian Competition
Authority, http://www.agcm.it/en/
Reading assignment:
http://www.wipo.int/ip-competition/en/
WIPO, IP and Competition Policy, 2017.
10. MID_TERM EXAM (Friday, 24 November 2017)
11. THE LAW OF ART (Tuesday, 28 November 2017)
Special Guest Co-Lecturer: Professor Sagi Hartov, Executive Dean & Managing
Director of the London College of Contemporary Art
(video stream from London).
12. THE PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN CHINA (Friday,
1 December 2017)
Reading assignment:
WAYNE C. JAESCHKE, ZHUN LU & PAUL CRAWFORD, Comparison of Chinese
and U.S. Patent Reform Legislation, in J. Marshall Review of Intellectual Property
Law, 11, 2012, 567 and WEINIAN HU, International Patent Rights Harmonisation: The Case of China, 2017
Special Guest Co-Lecturer: Prof. Paul C. B. Liu, Tsinghua University, School of Law
(video stream from Bejing).
12. FINAL EXAM (Tuesday, 5 December 2017).