University of Liege | Version française
Study programmes 2013-2014Last update : 13/05/2014
DROI2110-3  Intellectual property

Duration :  30h Th
Number of credits :  
Bachelor in Law, 3rd year4
Lecturer :  Bernard Vanbrabant
Language(s) of instruction :  
French language
Organisation and examination :  
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Course contents :  
The main part of the course is devoted to studying the elementary rules of positive law that govern respectively rights on creations or productions (copyright, related rights and databases, design rights, patent law, know-how, complementary protection certificates and new varieties of plants) and rights on distinctive signs (trademarks, commercial name, sign, origin labelling and indication of sources, domain name). For the 'major' rights (copyright, designs and models, patents, trademarks), we will consider more or less systematically, in addition to the sources, the object and the conditions for protection, determination of the rightholder and the rules on conveyance, ultimately the extent of the protection, including the exceptions to the exclusive right and the duration of protection. The other rights are subject only to more succinct developments. This presentation of substantive law will be preceded by a historical introduction and a presentation of the key principles that run through the field of intellectual property and the fundamental divisions of thereof. This introduction includes a reflection on the nature of intellectual rights allowing the students to understand the relationships and contrasts between these and the real and the claim rights already addressed; the common sources in the field (EU conventions, TRIPs agreement, etc.) are also considered in this first part. The course concludes with two chapters on cross-cutting issues: first, intellectual property litigation, the rules of which were streamlined to a large extent by the recent law of 10 May 2007 and, second, the competing notions of intellectual property and the rules of the EC Treaty in the internal market and the protection of competition. Given the number of students and the introductory nature of the course, this is essentially given in the form of a lecture. Visual aids (slide shows) will be used to illustrate the material and help the students follow the lesson. The students will occasionally be invited to prepare for the following lesson by reading a text to facilitate the examination of more complex or more important issues in the field (conditions of originality and of form in copyright, the criterion of the risk of confusion in trademark law, exhaustion of intellectual rights, etc.)
Learning outcomes of the course :  
The course aims to give a global vision of intellectual property rights in Belgian law and to mention European and international legal sources.
Prerequisites and co-requisites/ Recommended optional programme components :  
None
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :  
yes
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :  
Lecture Practical sessions: Several practical sessions have been scheduled for the academic year. Their purpose is to resolve practical cases and to review and clarify the theoretical elements will also be reviewed and clarified. Office hours: Thursdays from 9am to 6.30pm (except on days of practical sessions) or at any other time by appointment only. Trifacultaire building, floor +2, office 2.4, (in the "Fernand Dehousse" institute of European legal studies (IEJE)).
Recommended or required readings :  
Course notes will be available to students online (My ULg) as the course progresses.
Assessment methods and criteria :  
The examination covers all the material and comprises two parts: 1) The first will cover the theory, presented in the true/false format. Legal texts and course notes are not permitted in the exam. 2) The second part involves solving practical cases. The students may use legal reference texts but not course notes.
Work placement(s) :  
Organizational remarks :  
Contacts :  
Bât. B31 Droit des biens (box 16)
boulevard du Rectorat 7
4000 Liège 1
Belgique

+32 4 366.30.96 or 30.24 (Monday - Thursday)

B.Vanbrabant@ulg.ac.be Veronique.delforge@ulg.ac.be

Items online :  
Syllabus
Syllabus - Introduction

syllabus
Producers Rights

Syllabus and slide
Copyright


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