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Intellectual Property - LAW00077M

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  • Department: The York Law School
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Peter Harrison
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25

Module summary

This Module will provide an introduction to the overall concept of the protection of intellectual effort and business goodwill. It will provide an understanding of the requirements for subsistence (or registration) of each intellectual property right, and the scope of protection provided by each. However it will also stress, and give examples of, the co-existence and layering of separate rights in a single work. It will also highlight the differences between monopoly rights, anti-copying rights, rights protecting goodwill and the historical context of their development.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2024-25

Module aims

  • Whether they be Samsung, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Christian Louboutin, or a garden-shed start-up, the great majority of the value of modern businesses is created by their ability to protect the creative effort of their people and the goodwill that they have built in their brand both to stay ahead of their competitors and control piracy. The estimated cumulative value of the world's top 100 brands in 2022 exceeded US$ 3 trillion.
  • This Module will provide an introduction to the overall concept of the protection of intellectual effort and business goodwill. It will provide an understanding of the requirements for subsistence (or registration) of each intellectual property right, and the scope of protection provided by each. However it will also stress and give examples of the co-existence and layering of separate rights in a single work. It will also highlight the differences between monopoly rights, anti-copying rights, and rights protecting goodwill and the historical context of their development. It will also explore conflicts of the IP system with concepts of freedom and rights of expression from the open source movement, to creative commons and patent trolls.
  • However, the core of this module is intellectual property in the real world. The PBL sessions follow a single developing scenario which follows the successes and problems of a start-up business from an initial idea, through product design, brand launch to (perhaps) the post-flotation party. You will gain an understanding of the advantages, and limitations, of intellectual property rights in a commercial context their usefulness in maintaining competitive advantage, developing a brand and supporting business financing. Most of the problems encountered by the start-up are taken directly from the (long) practice experience of the module leader and give you a real-life understanding of the world of IP and something of what makes a start-up business succeed.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module students should be able to demonstrate:

  • An understanding of the role of confidentiality, patents, copyright, and design rights in the protection of ideas and their expression.
  • An understanding of the role of trademarks, domain names and the law of passing-off in the protection of business goodwill and brands;
  • An understanding of the territorial nature of the intellectual property system, the international mechanisms used to address this, and the concept of national and EU exhaustion of rights;
  • The ability to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different intellectual property rights for the protection of a variety of commercial products;
  • The ability to advise clients on how intellectual property rights can, and cannot be, used to promote or finance a business, or to protect an individual's creative effort;
  • The ability to apply the knowledge and techniques developed in the module in different contexts.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Client Advice Letters		 N/A 100

Special assessment rules

None

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Client Advice Letters		 N/A 100

Module feedback

Marks provided twenty working days from submission. Students will have the opportunity for one to one discussion of work where requested.

Indicative reading

Holyoak and Torremans Intellectual Property Law (9th edn, OUP 2019)

David Bainbridge & Claire Howell Intellectual Property Asset Management: How to identify, protect, manage and exploit intellectual property within the business environment (Routledge 2013)

Robert P. Merges Justifying Intellectual Property (Harvard University Press 2011)


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.