Alain Pottage

This course is available on the MSc in Law and Accounting, MSc in Law, Anthropology and Society, Master of Laws and Master of Laws (extended part-time study). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course will be relevant to the following LLM specialisms: Intellectual Property Law; Information Technology, Media and Communications Law

None 

This foundation course offers an in depth analysis of legislation and case law concerning registered trademarks in the UK and EU, against the backdrop of relevant developments in international and comparative law. Topics covered include: an introduction to national, regional and international trade mark registration systems; the background of unfair competition law; registration requirements; absolute grounds and relative grounds of refusal of registration; the scope of trade mark rights; the tests for infringement - confusion and dilution; exceptions and defences.

20 hours of seminars in the LT.

There will be a Reading Week in week 6 of LT.

One 2,000 word essay.

Core Textbook - L Bently and B Sherman Intellectual Property 4th ed (OUP, Oxford 2014).  Students will be expected to read widely in designated journals and books. All of the recommended cases and journal articles are available in electronic form and additional materials will be made available on the Moodle website which supports this course. A detailed reading list will be provided for the course, but the following are indicative: Available in the Library: L Bently, J Davis, J Ginsburg (eds) Trade Marks & Brands: An Interdisciplinary Critique (CUP, Cambridge 2008); A Arvidsson, Brands. Meaning and Value in Media Culture (Routledge, London 2006);  C Lury, Brands. The Logos of the Global Economy (Routledge, London 2004); G Dinwoodie & M Janis (eds) Trade Mark Law and Theory: A Handbook of Contemporary Research (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham 2008); S Maniatis & D Botis, Trade Marks in Europe: A Practical Jurisprudence 2nd ed (Sweet & Maxwell, London 2010).  

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the main exam period.