The course introduces students to intellectual property rights. The main goal is to provide students with a solid understanding of intellectual property and its functioning in both common law and civil law jurisdictions. More specifically, the course will provide an analysis of copyright and patent law, trademarks, trade secrets and industrial design. For many of the topics covered, the course will focus on both EU and US law.

By the end of the course, students should be able to: - understand the theoretical foundations of intellectual property rights. - understand basic principles of patent law, copyright law, trademarks, trade secrets, design, and intellectual property in general. - navigate the complex legal landscape of intellectual property in the EU and US. - understand the critical role of intellectual property as an intangible asset for entrepreneurs and businesses. - understand how to manage IP risks and elaborate the overall IP strategy of a company. - navigate the challenges and opportunities of IP in the digital environment. - critically assess the impact of emerging technologies on the foundations of intellectual property.

The course starts with an analysis of the competing policies underlying the intellectual property laws and regulations. It covers the basics of copyright, patents, trademarks, trade-secrets, design, and other IP-related areas of law (such as competition law). It analyses some of the salient controversies in intellectual property law, including the protection for software, datasets and business methods. It investigates the challenges and difficulties of protecting trademarks on the Internet.

Reference Books (only the parts that will be assigned by the instructor): Annette Kur, Thomas Dreier and Stefan Luginbuehl, European Intellectual Property Law. Text, Cases and Materials (2nd edn, Edward Elgar 2019) Slides, materials, research papers, and case studies may be listed and made available on the e-learning platform and assigned to students on a weekly basis. Updated versions of relevant laws, as from time to time provided or indicated to the students, shall always be consulted.

Classes will be based on both frontal instruction and interactive teaching (e.g., active participation and discussion). For most of the classes, students will be required to discuss a specific topic or case study. During each class, randomly selected students will be asked questions about the lesson’s topic and will be required to take a position on the most controversial issues in the assigned readings. This will prompt discussion among groups of students, with the goal of stimulating critical thinking. Students’ participation will be part of the final assessment. Therefore, for each class, students will be expected to have already studied the assigned materials.

The final assessment will be based on 3 elements: (i) students’ attendance rate and participation in the class discussions, which will account for 35% of the final evaluation; (ii) midterm exam, which will account for 35% of the final evaluation; and (iii) final oral exam, which will account for 30% of the final evaluation. All students are automatically enrolled as attending students. Students wishing to be non-attending ("non-attending students") are required to apply for a non-attending status. To do so, they shall send a written request to the instructor at the outset of the course. Non-attending students will have to take the final exam during the one examination date and/or retake sessions available. The assessment will account for 100% of the overall final grade and will be more extensive than the one for attending students. To successfully complete the exam, non-attending students are required to study all the materials and readings assigned to attending students plus all the additional materials that will be indicated by the instructor.

Successful completion of the three-pronged assessment and a keen interest in the subject.