Dr Luke McDonagh 

This course is available on the LLM (extended part-time), LLM (full-time) and University of Pennsylvania Law School LLM Visiting Students. 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

This course offers in depth analysis of legislation and case law concerning trade marks in the UK and EU. In so doing the module considers relevant developments in international and comparative law. Topics covered include: national, regional and international trade mark registration systems; absolute grounds and relative grounds of refusal; the scope of trade mark rights; trade mark infringement; exceptions and defences; and the ownership of brand image in the context of the interaction between consumers and corporate brands.

20 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.

There will be a Reading Week in week 6 of Autumn. 2 hours of seminars in the Spring Term.

One 2,000 word essay.

Core Textbook

• S Karapapa and L McDonagh, Intellectual Property Law 1st edition (OUP, Oxford 2019).  

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 (and available in the LSE 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 and 30 minutes) in the spring exam period.