Intellectual Property and EU Law
Intellectual property law and EU law have for a long time had a troubled relationship. National intellectual property rights are as exclusive rights bound to interact and clash with the free movement of goods and competition law almost necessarily does no see those exclusive rights as obvious. Is there a clash and if so, which area of law will dominate? Or is there instead a complex interaction in hot pursuit of the same objectives? On top of that there is the issue of EU competence in this field and the harmonisation drive. This module looks in detail at these complex relationships.
Throughout the course, references will be made to leading articles in this field and Holyoak and Torremans Intellectual Property Law (5th edition, 2008) will be used as a textbook for the course and is recommended for purchase.