INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW - 2021/2

Module Overview

Intellectual property law is a specialised area of law, which is set on international law by way of minimum standards (TRIPS Agreement, Paris and Berne Conventions). The UK IP laws have seen not only international regulation but also extensive harmonisation in EU law (particularly trade mark law and to a certain extent copyright law). This area of law grants exclusive rights to reward and/or incentivise creation and innovation in exchange for certain societal benefits (different for specific IP rights: the disclosure of inventions; the publication of works and the correction of market inefficiencies in the case of distinctive signs indicating commercial origin). The module will identify the main types of intellectual property in terms of their subject matter, conditions for protection, duration and scope of protection and will examine their impact on the protection of creative endeavours.

Module provider

School of Law

Module Leader

ABBOTT Ryan (Schl of Law)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• The nature and importance of intellectual property law


• Forms of intellectual property and their subject-matter


• Justifications for intellectual property rights


• The influence of EU and international law


• IP remedies


• Patents


• Breach of confidence


• Copyright


• Design law


• Trademarks and passing off

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge, understanding, analytical ability and a sense of relevance in applying principles to new, unseen scenarios and discussion topics, and, to critically discuss possible legal solutions.  The assessment address all the learning outcomes listed above.

Thus the summative assessment for this module consists of a 2-hour Examination during the examination period.

Formative assessment and feedback

In order to enable constructive alignment between teaching and assessment (and between the summative and formative assessments), formal formative assessment is by a 1-hour Examination sat in-class in exam conditions.  Individual written feedback will then be provided to each student undertaking this assessment, together with their marks, and, generalised feedback on the formative assessment will be provided at the beginning of the next available full lecture to all students. This formative assessment will take place usually in Week 7, or otherwise at such a time to ensure that students receive timely feedback.

Students are also given the opportunity to seek in-person informal feedback on fully-written tutorial and past examination questions, before and after classes, and, during office hours.

The assessment method for each module has been selected to test a variety of key skills, competences and outcomes as required by QAA. As such, assessment method cannot be changed. Reasonable adjustment may be made on application subject to ALS approval AND only where such adjustment still allows for the required skills, key competences and outcomes to be assessed at an equivalent level

Module aims

• This module aims to emphasise the means by which intellectual property law seeks to protect inventive and creative activities through the grant of particular rights, and, at the same time balance the extent of these exclusive monopoly rights with the third party' interests and the public interest of society at large.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to support students in their development the knowledge, understanding, analytical ability and a sense of relevance in relation to intellectual property law, principles and practice, at a level appropriate to a FHEQ Level 6 module.

The learning and teaching methods, in the total student learning time of 150 hours, include:

Weekly 2-hour lectures, with opportunities for student participation and feedback (2 hours x 11 weeks)

Fortnightly 1-hour tutorials, during which learning will be applied to problem scenarios, case law and discussion topics (1 hour x 6)

Reading in preparation for classes

Preparation of formative and summative examinations

Consolidation of learning

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: LAW3072

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2021/2 academic year.