International Intellectual Property

Catalog description

International intellectual property (IP) law is one of the most dynamic and increasingly important areas of law. The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, first signed in the 1880s, are the primary instruments that gave rise to international IP law. These instruments have been revised many times since then and have resulted in the creation of the World Intellectual Property Organization, a specialized agency of UN administering many international instruments on intellectual property. Subsequent negotiations to increase international standards of protection resulted in the creation of the most comprehensive international IP instrument - the Trade- Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement in 1994. The TRIPs agreement is one of the key agreements governed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and benefits from the efficient dispute resolution mechanism established in the WTO. The course will use these instruments to examine core issues that arise when intellectual property rights and obligations have extra-territorial implications. The key international organizations that govern these instruments will also be part of the discussion. The course will analyze unsettled intellectual property issues in public and private international law through multiple perspectives including law and development, law and economics, and law and society.