Intellectual property law, management and policy

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Subtitle: 
An introduction for emerging and transition economies

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Aims and scope: 

We all create intellectual property. We all use intellectual property. Intellectual property is the most pervasive yet least understood way we regulate expression. Despite its importance to so many aspects of the global economy and daily life, intellectual property policy remains a reletively understudied subject, especially for students in emerging and transition economies. This introductory course aims to clarify both the basic concepts and the major conflicts surrounding this fascinating area of law, management, and policy, offering students an introduction to copyright, patents, trademarks, and other forms of knowledge that are object of legal protection and regulation. Using vivid examples from all over the world, this course illustrates the importance and limitations of intellectual property, overviewing the complex system of laws, management practices and public policies governing the dissemination of ideas, expressions, inventions, creativity, and data collection in the modern world.

Topics: 

I. FOUNDATIONS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. 1. Knowledge, intellectual activity, and socio-economic development. 2. IP as an economic and legal category: scientific schools, objects and subjects, history. 3. Copyright and related rights: essence and development of related industries. 4. Objects patent law: inventions, utility models, industrial designs. Acquisition. Secret inventions. 5. Non-traditional objects of IP rights: innovative offers, topographies of integrated circuits, scientific discoveries, plant and animal breeds, know-how. 6. Objects of individualization: trademarks, commercial names, geographical indications of origin. II. THE ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. 7. Preconditions for the commercialization of IP: a functioning innovation system, technopark structures, venture entrepreneurship, technological transfer. 8. Commercialization of IP: essence and methods, use in own production, sale of IP, license agreements, franchising. Trade in technical services: leasing, engineering, reengineering. 9. IP management at the level of the subject: contents and phases, valuation, accounting, taxation, goodwill, marketing. III. THE ADMINISTRATION AND PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD. 10. Infringement of IP rights: plagiarism, counterfeiting and "gray" imports, industrial espionage and competitive intelligence, patent trolling. 11. IP in the digital space: the history of the global network, cybersquatting, illegal distribution of content using peer-to-peer systems, piracy and copyright trolling, "cloud rentier". 12. Legal protection of IP: general principles, insurance, mediation, arbitration, the judicial and administrative order. 13. Administration and protection of IP in Ukraine: public authorities, NGOs, legislation, IP and external economic relations. 14. International cooperation: international conventions and organizations. Alternative free culture: copyleft, free software, Creative Commons, pirate international.

Indicative reading: 

Vaidhyanathan, S. (2017). Intellectual Property: A Very Short Introduction, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press.

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