Duration
30h Th, 15h Pr
Number of credits
| Specialised master in European law | 4 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The course on patent law gives an introduction to the topics that are essential for a patent law practitioner today. The course will be taught in 10 classes of 3 hours each from 16 September until 9 December 2015.
The class topics are as follows (slight amendments are possible):
Class 1
- Introduction
- Patentable subject matter
Class 2
- Patentability of biotechnological inventions
- Validity: Novelty
Class 3
- Validity: Inventive step, industrial application, sufficiency, added matter
Class 4
- Direct infringement, literal and by equivalence
- Indirect infringement
Class 5
- Indirect infringement (continued)
- The Unitary Patent
Class 6
- Defenses to infringement
Class 7
- Procedural aspects: application, grant, challenge and enforcement
Class 8
- Sector peek 1: telecommunications - the smartphone patent wars
Class 9
- Sector peek 2: pharma patents and SPCs
Class 10
- Review and questions
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
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Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
In addition to the 10 classes on patent law, there will be 15 hours of practical classes with exercises that familiarize students with the practical application of the legal principles of patent law. These practical classes are graded separately. What is discussed during these classes will not be tested during the oral examination in January.
The grade awarded for the practical classes counts in the overall grade for the patent law course.
Recommended or required readings
The course will be taught by means of slides. These slides will be posted on the MyULG intranet before each class. Students are expected to study everything that was explained during the 10 classes.
Additional reading materials may be assigned for a better understanding of the topics discussed. These materials will be posted on MyULG or will be freely available on the internet.
Assessment methods and criteria
The exam in January will most likely be oral, with a combination of theoretical questions based on the class discussions and a practical case to be analysed. Each student will have time to analyse the questions and prepare his or her oral answers.
Before the end of the course, students will receive a list of all legal texts they are allowed to use during the examination in January. This list will contain all relevant legal texts discussed during the course.
Students can highlight and underline these texts with markers in different colours, but they cannot write on the texts or use post-its.