module specification

The purpose of this module is to provide students with a broad understanding of what intellectual property is and the issues attached to the notion of protecting ‘creations of the mind’ with regards to the effect being felt due to new media sources. It will be focusing on English law but will touch upon the international conventions which also providing protection. There will be a number of elements considered, including assignments, licences and international arrangements, contracts, disclosure of confidential information, passing off, web addresses and domain name disputes.

Students will develop their legal writing with use of legislation, common law and EU Law. This module will also test students’ ability critically to analyse case-study based problem questions.

MODULE AIMS

On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

• analyse basic intellectual property concepts and precedents;
• explain how IP law seeks to balance the interest of the owners of IP and the interests of the wider society;
• critically discuss the legal, social, and cultural context underpinning IP and media law policy;
• understand the relationship between IP and brand protection;
• relate relevant IP concepts and cases in contemporary media management issues and cases;
• understand the current challenges to existing models of IP exploitation in the context of digital interactive environments;
• critically evaluate case study-based problem questions;
• construct legal writing with the employment of media law cases.

No pre-requisites. Not available for Study Abroad.

PART ONE: COPYRIGHT

• The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
• Copyright Infringement
• Commercial Dealing in Copyright
• The European Union and Brexit
• International Copyright

PART TWO: PATENTS

• Who Owns a Patent?
• Patent Infringement

PART THREE: TRADE MARKS

• The Definition of a Trade Mark
• The Sieckmann Principles
• Unregistrable Marks
• Trade Marks as Assets
• Trade Mark Infringement
• Trade Marks in Electronic Advertising

PART FOUR: DESIGN RIGHTS

• Registered Designs
• Unregistered Designs

PART FIVE: IP DEVELOPMENT RELATED TO IT

• Patents and Information Technology
• Copyright in Computer Programs
• Statutory Rights for Lawful Users of Computer Programs
• Databases
• Intellectual Property and the Internet
• Third Party Facilitators
• Domain Names
• Cyber Squatters
• Defamation and Privacy in the Electronic Age
• Social Media and other Evolving Digital Platforms

PART SIX: THE TORT OF PASSING OFF

• The Elements of the Tort of Passing Off
• Misrepresentation
• Reverse Passing Off

Overview

Students will be taught by a combination of online lectures, interactive online seminars, one-to-one supervision, and self-study of a comprehensive module, with students encouraged to read from specified case law and legal journals. Students will be given the opportunity to discuss theoretical issues as well as practical problem solving.  Students will be supported in undertaking on-line research using electronic law databases and encouraged to use on line legal resources on a regular basis. There is a virtual learning environment containing handbooks, lecture notes, weblinks, discussion groups, study skills materials and assessment criteria. 

Experiential Learning

Students will be encouraged to respond to realistic case-studies relating to the sector, giving written legal opinions to clients in the style of a professional legal advisor. Students will also be able to participate in the extracurricular experiential learning offered within the Law School, including the Pro Bono Clinic and the Mooting Club.

Study Support

Students will have regular access to module tutors by email and by one-to-one video conferences to support their studies. They will also engage with one formative assessment for each module, which will be marked promptly with opportunities for feedback either by email or individual online discussion.

On successful completion of the module, you will be able to do the following:

1. Manage a substantial body of legal knowledge focused on intellectual property rights and the GDPR which affect the media sector.

2. Critically evaluate the legal, social, and cultural context underpinning IP and media law policy.

3. Research legal information from paper and IT resources.

4. Synthesise relevant case law, legislation and treaties.

5. Present conflicting arguments and apply the law to problem scenarios relevant to aspects of intellectual property law.

The module adopts the assessment strategy principles of GSBL which have been developed in the spirit of ESJ. These are:

1. The School is committed to ensuring that each student should not have more no more than 2 assessment points per 20 credit module.
2. We provide balanced forms of assessment, both in terms of its overall volume (measured in terms of assessment points and output required and the types used.
3. Group activities are part of the learning and teaching strategies but assessment is at the level of the individual. Thus, assessment focused on individual reflections and learning from participating in a group activity.
4. Flexibility/choice in assessment methods will be introduced wherever possible in order to facilitate different learning studies and support personalization

Assessment of the module will be by way of a written formal advice (3,000 words maximum), given in response to a realistic, employment-related practical case scenario.

In line with our policy on facilitating formative feedback to students, the assessment strategy is designed to provide formative feedback on a piece of contributing summary assessment before another summative component is due to be submitted.

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