The Edinburgh Law School

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (HONOURS)

Session 2011/2012

Course Organiser: Dr Smita Kheria

 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW (HONOURS) - SESSION 2011/2012

COURSE INFORMATION

This course is offered in partnership with

the research Centre for studies in Intellectual Property and Technology law supported
by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Among the objectives of the Centre is the commitment to providing excellence in

teaching at the undergraduate, postgraduate and professional level in intellectual
property, information technology and related fields. In addition we aim to provide a
forum for the convening of international and national seminars, conference and
colloquia which will bring together scholars, professionals and students to advance
knowledge and understanding in the relevant fields. The Honours class of Intellectual
Property Law is designed and run to meet as many of these objectives as possible.

This handout details the nature of the teaching and assessment of students undertaking
the class in Session 2011/2012. It also outlines the content of the teaching sessions
that take place over nineteen weeks throughout semesters one and two. Particular
handouts including reading materials for each session are provided separately.

Teaching Aims and Learning Outcomes

The aims of this course are:

 To develop the analytical and critical skills of students by detailed examination of

the relevant legislation, cases, treaties and other legal instruments governing
intellectual property law in the UK, Europe and beyond;
 To foster critical understanding and evaluation of areas of controversy within this
area of law;
 To instil in students an ability to criticise constructively current laws and to
suggest and evaluate possible reforms;
 To develop the written and oral skills of students through class discussion and
written assessments.

1
By the end of this course students should be able:

 To identify the current law in the United Kingdom and Europe as it relates to
intellectual property;
 To differentiate between the approaches of the UK, Europe and other legal
systems towards the protection of intellectual property;
 To comment critically on the current state of the law in these systems;
 To identify the problems currently beleaguering the said systems in the field;
 To propose viable alternative means by which the problems could be
circumvented.

It is emphasised that Intellectual property law is a broad ranging subject and the
reading lists that will be provided with each session’s handouts will only represent a
fraction of the material that is available on any topic. There is no expectation that all
the materials on the reading lists be read before each session. The reading lists will
clearly denote items according to their importance for the issues to be discussed in the
seminars, details of which are given below.

Teaching Methods, Hours, Venue and Course Administration

The course is taught in semesters one and two on Fridays from 11.10am - 1pm in the
Lorimer Room, School of Law, Old College. Students are expected to present
themselves 5 minutes ahead of the class start-time. Please Note that occasionally
times and venue may be changed to accommodate guest speakers. Students will be
informed of changes timeously.

Notices about the course will be distributed via the course website, which can be
accessed through http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/courses/ It is therefore imperative that
students consult the site on a regular basis. The website also has a ‘forum’ facility for
students to additionally engage in discussion and participation in the course.

This course is taught at Honours level and the emphasis is on student participation.
The format for each session is the same: students are provided with reading materials
in advance of the class which they should have read and thought about before
attending. During teaching sessions students are expected to contribute to discussion
and to take responsibility for their own learning. Staff members act as facilitators
only. The reading materials which are referred to by no means exhaustive and
students are encouraged to undertake independent research.

Handouts containing reading material for each session will be distributed in the
seminars a week in advance. After distribution of handouts in the seminars, copies
will only be available to download from the course website and will not be available
through the Teaching office. If students have missed a seminar or mislaid a handout
then they should download the relevant handout from the course website.

Reading lists will be divided into three sections:

(1) Required Foundational Reading (this will be an overview of the area of law to be
covered);

2
(2) Seminar Reading (this will include Required Advanced Reading from a textbook
as well as other references that will help you prepare for the specific topics to be
covered in the seminar);
(3) Further Reading (this will be a list of additional materials which cover the subject
area in more breadth and depth and which you should explore as you see fit).

Sections 1 and 2 are designed to help students prepare for seminars and they serve as
a platform for further study. Preparation and contribution so far as this material is
concerned will be expected in the session.

Section 3 provides students with an indication of other materials that are available in
the broader subject area. Items of particular importance therein may be marked with
one star*. Items which are unmarked will be provided as useful references for the
students to explore the topic further.

While assessment will normally reflect the topics covered in seminars, it is your
responsibility to undertake independent research to enhance and deepen your learning.
Merely studying materials covered in seminars is unlikely to result in a high mark.

All items for seminar and foundational reading on the reading lists should be available
on line, via Westlaw or in the Edinburgh Law Library.

Dr Smita Kheria is responsible for the organisation of the course. Comments about
the course should be directed to her in the first instance.

The external examiner for the course is Professor Ronan Deazley, University of
Glasgow. He can be contacted through the course organiser.

Class representatives will be appointed. Two representatives will be elected within

the first two weeks of the course. Students are encouraged to use class representatives
to communicate with the course organiser on any matters of concern. The
responsibilities of class representatives are explained in a separate handout available
from School Office.

Students with a disability or Special Needs should approach the School Disability
Officer in confidence to discuss their situation and/or to make arrangements to
address their needs.

Large print handouts are available from the Teaching Office for
students for whom they are necessary.
Student Sickness or Absence - Regular attendance at seminars is compulsory.
Attendance at seminars will be monitored. Absence through illness may be self-
certified for a period of up to seven days but a medical certificate, sent to the
appropriate Director of Studies, is required thereafter.

Teaching and learning strategy of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences
can be found at:
http://www.hss.ed.ac.uk/AcademicAdmin/LearnTeachStrategy/index.htm

3
4
Assessment
This course will be assessed by means of one essay and a 3 hour written examination.
The essay is worth 1/3 and the examination 2/3 of final marks. Both pieces of
assessment are summative (i.e. they count towards the final mark) and all candidates
are required to complete both.

Students must choose a title for the essay from a list of titles that will be made
available in a separate handout during the first semester. Students must submit their
essays on or before Monday 9th January 2012 no later than 14:00. Further
information on submission procedures will be given at a later date.

A compulsory problem question has formed a part of the final exam for this course
since 1998/99 and will continue to do so. Students are encouraged to look at past
exam papers. Issues of technique and approach to this element of assessment are
discussed in the course of the year. Additionally, students will also have an
opportunity to answer a problem question as part of formative course work in
Semester one, and receive feedback on such required technique and approach.

Students are encouraged to keep copies of their own work. Written feedback on the
essay will be returned to students in semester 2. Students may request to discuss their
performance in the course with the course organiser. Where students perceive
assessment feedback to be neither useful nor appropriate, this matter should be raised
in class representative meetings, with the LSC representatives, and in student-staff
liaison committees.

Appeals against assessment are dealt with according to the procedures outlined in the
Honours Prospectus.

Length of essays
Essays must be no more than 12 pages long. This limit includes footnotes or
endnotes. Footnotes should be used in preference to endnotes where possible.
Bibliographies and lists of authorities or other sources are not included within
the page limit. The proper use of footnotes is for citation or referencing. They are not
to be used to make substantive points. Such substantive points should appear in the
body of the essay.

Page format of essays

Essays submitted as part of the required course work are to be in the following
format:

Paper: A4 size, Portrait form

Font: Times New Roman
Font size: 12
Margins: All 1 inch (2.54 cm)
Line spacing: 1.5
Footnotes/endnotes
font size: 10

5
Page numbering: All page numbers should be numbered in the following style:
“Page x of y” where the first x represents the current page number, and y the total
number of pages. Such numbering should appear either at the very top or very bottom
of each page.

It is your responsibility to check that the above settings have been used when
formatting your work, as these settings may not be the default settings for your
computer.

Reference style: Any style will be accepted as long as it is used consistently. If

possible, the Edinburgh Law Review style should be used.

Due date for submitted work and penalties for late submission

The penalty for work submitted late shall be FIVE MARKS for work submitted after
the prescribed deadline but before 5 pm on the next day, with a further 5 marks for
EACH FURTHER DAY OR PART THEREOF LATE. After 5 pm on the fifth day
following the day of the deadline, A MARK OF 0% WILL BE RECORDED. For
example, assuming a deadline of Thursday at 4 pm, work handed in before Friday at 5
pm, and initially assessed at 60% will receive a mark of 55%. The fifth day after the
day of the deadline is the following Tuesday, so work submitted after 5 pm on the
following Tuesday will receive 0%. On weekends and public holidays, the time of
electronic submission is the relevant time for penalty purposes.

Where a student is aware in advance of special circumstances which will prevent

him/her from submitting assessed work timeously, he/she may request in writing an
extension of the due date from the Director of Examinations. Such an extension, and
the length of any extension granted, shall be at the discretion of the Director of
Examinations. Where such an extension is granted, assessed work submitted within
the extended period for submission will not attract a penalty. Where a student fails to
submit a request for an extension to the Director of Examinations in advance, the
student may nonetheless inform the Director of Examinations in writing of any special
circumstances which prevented him/her from timeously submitting assessed work. In
such a case, the Director of Examinations may at his/her/its discretion reduce any
penalty which has been applied for late submission in whole or in part. In no
circumstances will any special circumstances affecting late submission of assessed
work be considered after marks have been finalised by the Board of Examiners.
Students should take note that Course Organisers do not have authority to grant
extensions to deadlines for submitted work and that requests for an extension should
not be submitted to Course Organisers.

All summative (i.e. which counts towards the final mark) work will be assessed using
the marking criteria applicable to Honours courses. For more information see the
School Documents web page: http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/docs/583_markingcriteria.doc

Plagiarism
The University’s guidance for students about plagiarism, and its regulations regarding
it, can be found at: http://www.acaffairs.ed.ac.uk/Regulations/Assessment/Home.htm

6
The University defines plagiarism as “the act of including in one’s work the work of
another person without providing adequate acknowledgement of having done so,
either deliberately or unintentionally.” Plagiarism, at whatever stage of a student’s
course, whether discovered before or after graduation, will be investigated and dealt
with appropriately by the University.

Students are also warned that work previously submitted by them for assessment in
another element of their degree programme may not be submitted again in the same,
or substantially the same, form.

Formative Course work

Students will have the opportunity to submit a voluntary piece of formative work (i.e.
which does not count towards the final mark). Such course work will be handed out
and marked and returned to students during Semester one.

Prescribed Texts
Students are permitted to take into the exam an unannotated copy of Intellectual
Property Law statutes (e.g. Blackstones or Palgrave) together with unannotated copies
of any relevant new statutory material that is in force and not contained in latest
edition of the statute book.

The Required Foundation Reading text for this course is:

HL MacQueen, C Waelde, GT Laurie and A Brown Contemporary Intellectual
Property: Law and Policy, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, 2010.

Students have an option for the Required Advanced Reading text. They can
choose either of the following:
W.R. Cornish, D. Llewelyn and T.Aplin, Intellectual Property: Patents, Copyright,
Trade Marks and Allied Rights, Seventh Edition, London, Sweet & Maxwell, 2010.

L. Bently and B. Sherman B, Intellectual Property Law, Third Edition, Oxford

University Press, 2008.

Other texts include:

For an introductory treatment of the subject: J. Davis, Intellectual Property Law,
Third Edition, Oxford University Press, 2008.

For a thorough medium-level text: P. Torremans, Holyoak and Torremans:

Intellectual Property, Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press, 2010.

T.Aplin and J.Davis, Intellectual Property Law: Text, Cases and Materials, 1st
edition, Oxford University Press, 2009
For an overview from a Scottish perspective see :
Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia: The Laws of Scotland, volume 18, paras. 801 - 1664.
T.E.Hays and C.C.Milne, Intellectual Property Law in Practice, Thomas W.Green,
2004

7
Members of Staff

Dr Smita Kheria – SK (Course Organiser)

SCRIPT
Old College,
Tel: 0131 650 2055
Email: smita.kheria@ed.ac.uk

Dr Arianna Andreangeli - AA
Old College
Tel: 0131 650 2008
Email: a.andreangeli@ed.ac.uk

Dr Abbe Brown - AB
SCRIPT
Old College
Tel: 0131 650 2014
Email: abbe.brown@ed.ac.uk

Ms Jane Cornwell - JC
SCRIPT
Old College,
Tel: 0131 650 2012
Email: Jane.Cornwell@ed.ac.uk

Guest speakers may take individual sessions subject to availability.

Course Outline

Semester I
Date Seminar Taken by Other remarks
Friday 23 September Introduction to Course and (SK) Essay titles handed out
Thematic Overview
Friday 30 September Copyright I (SK)
Friday 7 October Copyright II (SK)
Friday 14 October Copyright III (SK)
Friday 21 October Copyright IV (SK)
Friday 28 October READING WEEK
Friday 4 November Designs I (JC)
Friday 11 November Designs II (JC)
Friday 18 November Database right (SK) Formative assessment
handed out
Friday 25 November Competition Law (AA)
Friday 2 December Current issue in copyright (SK) Deadline for submission
of formative assessment
Friday 9 December Breach of confidence & (AB) Formative assessments
personality rights returned with feedback
Friday 16 December STUDY WEEK Deadline for essay 9th
January 2012

8
Semester II

Date Seminar Taken by Other remarks

Friday 20 January READING WEEK
Friday 27 January Trade Marks 1 (JC)
Friday 3 February Trade Marks 2 (JC)
Friday 10 February Passing off (SK)
Friday 17 February Patents I (JC)
Friday 24 February Innovative Learning Week Essay feedback returned
through teaching office
Friday 2 March Patents II (JC)
Friday 9 March Patents III (JC)
Friday 16 March Patents IV (JC)
Friday 23 March Free Movement of Goods (JC)
Friday 30 March READING WEEK
Friday 6 April READING WEEK

Getting Further Help With Your Studies

You should be aware that the University offers an annual series of workshops, as well
as other resources and support opportunities for students. Further details can be found
at www.tla.ed.ac.uk (under information “study skills support for students”).

You might also like to check out the work of SCRIPT which is based in the
School of Law and which has numerous projects dealings with intellectual
property law matters:

http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc

Miscellaneous

This Course Guide may be relevant to you in future, should you need, for example, to
supply information on the course as you have taken it to a professional body. Please
note that course materials are revised on an annual basis, and that the School cannot
commit to the provision of copies of archived course materials on demand. Therefore
you should retain your copy of this Course Guide in case of need before or after
graduation.