Welcome - Intellectual Property Law I
LAWS 2178 Intellectual Property Law I
CREDIT HOURS: 4
This class provides students with an introduction to the legal regimes governing the protection of intellectual property. The class studies the rules laid down in the Canadian statutes and case law, in the specific areas of copyright, patents, plant breeders' rights, trademark law, and passing off, in the light of the relevant international conventions. The course explores the distinction between intellectual (e.g. copyright law) and industrial protection (e.g. patent, trademark and passing off), the main rationales behind each regime (e.g. utilitarian principles, law & economics, labour theory, natural rights theory, social justice theory), the criteria for protection of each regime (e.g. requirements for validity, like originality, novelty, inventiveness, & utility, or distinctiveness) and the formal requirements for obtaining protection (e.g. automatic protection or registration), the scope of protection (exclusive rights & exceptions), as well as the most common modes of exercise (e.g. individual or collective licensing) and enforcement of the rights (e.g. injunctive relief, damages, seizures). At the end of the course, the class is invited to reflect on the issue of the protection of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and the difficulty of the existing intellectual property framework to guarantee it effective protection.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Combination of assignments (30%) and final examination (70%)
This course may be counted towards a Certificate in Environmental Law.