Make TRIPS to Berne, Rome, Paris and Madrid! "Visit" Geneva, where you can find WIPO and the WTO - the world's two most important international IP institutions. Stop by Europe to see how they implement international IP treaties. Closer to home, see how we implement them in the US and discover how they impact international trade relations, domestic policy, and your future clients' rights.
International law is increasingly important to domestic lawyers every day. This is as true in intellectual property as in any field. All geographic puns aside, this course covers international intellectual property ("IP") law from the following perspectives: (i) international public law, that is, the obligations that exist among sovereign countries and what systems of obligation exist for intellectual property protection; (ii) private international intellectual property law, that is, the acquisition and enforcement of intellectual property rights internationally, such as rights arising under a counties’ patent law, copyright law, or trademark law; and, to a lesser degree, (iii) comparative aspects of IP law among the major trading countries or regions of the world. The course is designed to afford the student who intends to practice in IP an acquaintance with key international IP issues, principles and policy questions. The course will impart understanding in these areas using materials such as treaties, cases and commentary, and will focus on the major international systems related to each substantive IP area.
Please read carefully my Generally Applicable Syllabus Information. This document sets forth course policy for attendance, preparation and participation, use of computers, examination and grading, and other items. A complete understanding of this document is necessary to take full meaning from the Class Schedule and Other Information set forth immediately below.
| Name: | International Intellectual Property |
| Class # / Section #: | 6333 / 10141 |
| Place: | 4 BLB |
| Time: | Tuesday & Thursday, 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. (2 class sessions per week, 3 credit hours) |
| Required Text: | Dinwoodie, Hennessey & Perlmutter, International Intellectual Property Law and Policy (2001) |
| Supplement?: | There is no requirement to purchase a statutory supplement. Certain documents may be assigned from time to time from sources other than the casebook. These documents will be provided via links in the class assignment table below or in a separate page of class links. Paper copies of these documents will typically not be provided in class, so students should plan to print them or review them electronically. |
| Prerequisites | Prerequisite: (i) IP Survey in past semesters; (ii) IP Survey, Fall 2007, from Professor Vetter, concurrent enrollment requirement; (iii) two of the following - Copyright Law, Patent Law, or Trademark Law; or (iv) with the permission of the Professor. |
| Grading: | The course grade will be primarily based on an open-materials
final exam. "Primarily" means that at least 95% of the course grade will be based on the final exam. Probably 100% of the course grade will be based on the final exam, but I want to have given notice of the possibility of a small percentage of the grade coming from other sources, most likely one or more small exercises. I also give notice that, alternatively, if I assign such exercises I may do so in an ungraded manner, but requiring their completion under the penalty of recording an "absence" for attendance purposes. Notwithstanding the above, my assessment of your in-class participation performance will not be a component of your grade. |
| Brief Description of Coverage: | This class will meet in two 1.5 credit-hour blocks each week. The coverage goal is approximately twenty to thirty pages per block. Assignments will be detailed in the table below as the semester progresses. |
| Absences Limit: | Assuming two class meetings a week, six or less absences
constitutes attendance meeting the eighty percent requirement. More
than six absences means that the eighty percent requirement is not met. Attendance will be taken via a roll sheet passed throughout the class each session. |
| "Pick your seat" seating chart date: | The second class session during the first week of class: - Thursday, August 23, 2007. |
| Final Exam Date/Time: | Thursday, December 6, 2007; 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. (3 hours) |
| Final Exam Information: | click here for the Final Exam page. |
| Final Exam Curve Issue: | Registration for this course has resulted in semesters where the number of J.D. students in the course is ten or less, raising a question about the applicable curve under the Law Center's Grading System and Course Curve. See UHLC Student Handbook. A class with ten or less J.D. students is designated a "Very Small Class" under the grading system. The corresponding grading policy for application of the curve is that it is "recommended and ordinarily applicable." I discuss this because I want students on notice that it is very, very likely that the specified curve (2.8 to 3.2) will apply. In other words, under administration practice, the plain meaning of "recommended and ordinarily applicable" does not apply. Rather, the phrase should be taken to mean something like: "applicable except for the most dire and unique circumstances." |
| First day/week's assignment: | Read this course web page, the linked Generally Applicable Syllabus Information, and the assignments detailed in the table below for the first day/week of class. |
| {reserved} | |
| Audio Recording of Class Sessions | I will audio tape the class sessions using a portable recorder attached to my person and post links to the audio tracks on the class web site for the sole and limited educational purpose of allowing students to stream the recorded sessions to review or to enable students who missed a class to hear the class presentation. Any audio tracks created will be deleted and destroyed shortly after the final exam for the class. Since I call on students, there is a slight chance that your contributions to class discussion, whether voluntary or while on call, may be included in the audio recording. The chance is slight because the recording technology I use does a poor job of picking up any voices other than my own. Your continued registration in this class indicates your acquiescence to any such incidental recording for the purposes described above unless, if you have concerns about this, you come speak with me as soon as possible but in no event later than the first day of the second week of class. |
| Guest Lecture One: | Tuesday, November 6th. Normal class time, but we will meet in the
Heritage Room. See: www.law.uh.edu/ipil/PractitionerLectures.html. |
| Guest Lecture Two: | Thursday, November 29th. Normal class time, but we will meet in 3
BLB. See: www.law.uh.edu/ipil/PractitionerLectures.html. |
| Scheduling Note: | There is no class on Tuesday, Nov. 27; that day is not a "Tuesday" from the perspective of Law Center courses. |
| { reserved } | { reserved } |
These are posted on my home page at:
The links below are for general reference and may be used for some class assignments.
The tables immediately below provide the detailed assignments for this course. It also may provide links to materials for each class and other items related to the course. In order to allow flexibility in the class, assignments beyond those posted for the next week are subject to change; therefore, students who may wish to read ahead are urged to contact the professor before doing so. The rate of progress through the modules depends on the class dynamics.
Class presentation slides are provided as links below in association with each module title. I will generally have the slides available about a week before we start a new module. If students want hardcopy of the slides for use during class, please download and print the linked slides file.
After each class session, the class date will become a hyperlink to the audio for that class.
Case names are listed in the table below as assignments. Sometimes there are several paragraphs of introduction before the case when the case is the lead case in a new subheading in the book. These introductory paragraphs are part of the assignment and should be read along with the case.
The table below accounts for only thirteen weeks of the semester. One class of the remaining week will be for a speaker presentation during the semester. The other is initially left as a flexible day, potentially to be used for another speaker or simply as the last regular class session.
The call group assignment list will be posted here for downloading as a .pdf file, with a password required to open the file. That password will be given out in class.
In the table each casebook assignment is given a page range to go with the assignment title. Unless the "Comment/Note" column indicates otherwise, read the entire assignment, encompassed on the indicated pages, including any notes or associated problems.
| Assignment | Page(s) | Comment/Notes | Start OH# |
Date |
Call Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overview & Introductory Themes |
1-3 |
The assignments for pages 1-27 are listed
in page order, class coverage will reorder the materials. |
1.1.a |
All |
|
Koumantos - Meaning of “IP” |
3-8 |
||||
Dot-Communist Manifesto |
8 |
||||
McCarthy: IP – the Overlooked Export |
8-14 |
||||
IP & the National Information Infrastructure
(NII) |
14-15 |
||||
Dinwoodie – Integration of Domestic
& Int’l IP Lawmaking |
16-17 |
1.10 |
All |
||
Gana: Creativity in the 3rd World |
17-19 |
||||
Kozyris – Comparative Law for the
21st Century |
19-23 |
||||
Keefauver – The Need for Int'l Thinking
in IP Law |
23-25 |
||||
Notes & Questions |
25-27 |
||||
Civil Law Systems (note 7) |
27-28 |
||||
The First Successful Factory |
505 |
stop before [B] on pg. 507 |
|||
Territoriality –Computer
Associates (“CA”) v. Altai |
28-34 |
1.20.a |
L |
| Assignment | Page(s) | Comment/Notes | Start OH# |
Date |
Call Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Int'l Law and Institutions |
35-36 |
2.1.a |
|||
Restatement of Foreign Relations §102 |
36-40 |
||||
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties |
40-41 |
||||
Multilateral Agreements – Int’l
IP Instruments |
41-44 |
L |
|||
Leading Institutions & Actors |
44-47 |
2.5 |
|||
GATT
1947 (stop after reading down through pt. I, art. 1, ¶1). |
n/a |
||||
Introduction
to the Uruguay Round agreements (read the introduction and the section
immediately thereafter summarizing the agreement establishing the
WTO) |
n/a |
||||
TRIPS summary
(read the summary and the section immediately thereafter summarizing
the "Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement
of Disputes" at the WTO) |
n/a |
||||
Skim the full listing of the Uruguay Round
documents
establishing the WTO |
n/a |
||||
The European Union |
47-55 |
2.10.a |
|||
History
of the European Union (read full page at link) |
n/a |
||||
Other Int'l Players |
55-57 |
||||
Negotiation of Treaties |
57-61 |
||||
Treaties Under US Law & Executive
Agreements |
61-66 |
||||
Robertson v. GE |
66-71 |
2.20.a |
|||
GM Corp. v. Ignacio Lopez De Arriortua |
71-79 |
R |
|||
National Treatment & MFN |
79-82 |
||||
Murray v. BBC |
82-87 |
Here
is a link with a short video clip about "Mr. Blobby" -
the character at issue in this case. |
| Assignment | Page(s) | Comment/Notes | Start OH# |
Date |
Call Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Watch the WTO Webcast video entitled "TRIPS:
Tape 2 — Questions and answers" (00:48) which is available
very near the bottom of the WTO webcasting
page |
n/a |
During this class we will watch a WTO video
describing TRIPS (01:04) and discuss the video. |
n/a |
Thurs., Sept. 6 |
n/a |
Watch the WTO Webcast video entitled "Basic
principles of the WTO system" (01:08) which is available on
the WTO webcasting
page |
n/a |
During this class we will watch (i) a video
describing the WTO history (00:18) and (ii) a video describing two
case studies from the WTO DSU system (00:16). |
n/a |
L |
|
Multilateral Trade |
825-826 |
||||
Palmeter: Sovereignty and the WTO |
826-830 |
||||
Dreyfuss & Lowenfeld – DSU &
TRIPS - Introduction |
830-834 |
||||
n/a |
This is a one and a half page reading updating
the situation for Non-Violation Complaints |
||||
Dreyfuss & Lowenfeld – Case
1 – MacroHard |
835-848 |
3.3.a |
L |
||
| India - Patent
Protection for Pharm and AgChem |
848-858 |
stop before "The Scope of IP Protection
in the WTO" on pg. 858 |
3.10.a |
||
Dreyfuss & Lowenfeld – DSU &
TRIPS –Case IV – Koka Kola |
881-889 |
R |
|||
EU Banana Arbitration
(2000) - Cross Sector Retaliation |
890-900 |
stop before "[F] The Relationship Between
. . ." on pg. 900 |
|||
Dispute Resolution in WIPO Administered
Treaties |
781-782 |
3.20 |
|||
Newby - Special 301 |
782-797 |
||||
Alford – American Approaches to
IP in East Asia (1994) |
797-804 |
||||
Notes |
804-809 |
||||
David Kirkpatrick, How Microsoft Conquered
China, Fortune, July 23, 2007 |
n/a |
handed out in class |
|||
Special 301 Report Excerpts |
809-824 |
skim read this portion |
|||
EU Trade Barrier Regulation |
824-825 |
stop before "Multilateral Trade Measures"
on pg. 825 |
|||
| Assignment | Page(s) | Comment/Notes | Start OH# |
Date |
Call Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Development of Int'l Patent Treaties |
377-388 |
skim this reading |
4.1.a |
||
Paris Conv. Substantive Provisions - Art.
5 |
400-416 |
R |
|||
Harmonization of Substantive Patent Law |
416-425 |
||||
TRIPS and Patent Law |
425-431 |
stop before Notes, pg. 431 |
|||
TRIPS and Patent Law (continued) |
431-436 |
4.10.a |
|||
Casebook
Supplement for page 436 |
L |
||||
Report on "decision
to remove final patent obstacle to cheap drug imports"
and text of the decision. |
n/a |
skim these two linked documents |
|||
Canada Pharmaceutical Patent Protection |
437-470 |
||||
| Global Patent Registration? |
913-916 |
stop before "Le Brevet . . .",
pg. 916 |
4.20.a |
||
| Patent Cooperation Treaty |
921-929 |
stop before "[C] Quasi . . .",
pg. 929 |
L |
||
EPC - Lenzing AG’s European Patent |
988-998 |
stop before "[3] The Luxembourg . .
.", pg. 998 |
R |
||
Handout: Toward the Realization of the
Community Patent |
all |
This 4 page handout will be provided in class
before this class session. |
|||
1-19 |
read the indicated pages in the GAO document;
skim the remainder of the document, paying attention to the tables
and diagrams on pgs. 42, 46, 47 & 54 |
||||
| Assignment | Page(s) | Comment/Notes | Start OH# |
Date |
Call Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copyright and Related Rights
Background |
513-516 |
stop before "Ricketson", pg.
516 |
5.1.a |
||
Berne Convention articles: 2, 5, 6,
6bis, 7(1), 8, 9, 14ter, & 19 |
n/a |
use the link above to read these Berne
sections |
|||
Berne Convention Implementation Act |
535-541 |
stop before "WIPO . . .", pg.
541 |
|||
| Author’s Rights v.
Copyright |
n/a |
read slides 5.3.a to 5.3.g |
|||
link
to handout: Moral Rights |
1083-1084 |
the handout password is the same as that
for the call group list |
|||
link
to handout: Huston v. Turner |
1085-1087 |
the handout password is the same as that
for the call group list |
|||
link
to handout: Carter v. Helmsley-Spear |
1102-1118 |
the handout password is the same as that
for the call group list |
R |
||
| WTO DSB – US 110(5)
“Home Style” Exception |
575-622 |
stop before sec. 4.04, pg. 622 |
5.10.a |
L |
|
Verstrynge: The EU Commission’s
Direction on Copyright and Neighboring Rights (1993) |
645-650 |
5.20.a |
|||
Warner Bros. v. Christiansen |
651-654 |
||||
Collins v. Imtrat; EMI v. Patricia |
654-668 |
stop before "[3] Competition Law",
pg. 668 |
L |
||
Gendreau – Copyright Harmonization
in the EU and North America |
698-704 |
5.30.a |
R |
||
Caviedes – Should the EU Dictate
Int’l © Law Development? |
705-710 |
||||
Ginsburg – Role of Nat’l
© Norms in Era of Int’l © Norms |
710-712 |
||||
EU – E-Commerce Directive (2000)
– sections on ISP liability |
713-716 |
||||
Perlmutter – Future Directions
in Int’l Copyright |
717-722 |
||||
WIPO Primer on IP & E-Commerce |
722-725 |
||||
WIPO “Internet” Treaties
- WIPO Primer on IP and E-Commerce |
725-729 |
||||
Samuelson, the US Agenda at the WIPO
“Internet” Treaty Conference |
730-737 |
5.40.a |
|||
Peters, U.S. House Report |
738-744 |
you also may want to refer to this: U.S.
Copyright Act, Chapter 12, Copyright Protection and Management
Systems
(pdf) |
R |
||
EU Council – Common Position on
Directive for WCT/WPPT |
744-747 |
||||
AV Performers’ Rights |
747-752 |
||||
n/a |
read the 60 numbered items in the preamble
and skim the rest |
L |
|||
n/a |
read the Introduction, sections I, IV,
and VII.B.6 (Misappropriation); skim read the rest, don't worry
about the footnotes at the end |
||||
|
Database Protection |
753-757 |
||||
1-22 |
read the entire bill (the word density per
page is very low) |
||||
n/a |
read all of this report |
||||
| Assignment | Page(s) | Comment/Notes | Start OH# |
Date |
Call Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mother’s Restaurants
v. Mother’s Other Kitchen |
89-91 |
6.1.a |
|||
Vaudable v. Montmartre,
Inc |
92-93 |
||||
Person’s Co.,
Ltd. V. Christman |
93-98 |
||||
Buti v. Impressa
Perosa, S.R.L. |
98-102 |
L |
|||
McDonalds v. McDonalds
Ltd. |
102-105 |
6.10 |
|||
Jian Tools for Sales
Inc. v. Roderick Manhattan Group |
105-107 |
R |
|||
Notes |
107-112 |
||||
Global Marketing and Trademark Law |
112-116 |
||||
| Otokoyama
Co. Ltd. v. Wine of Japan Import |
116-122 |
||||
Doctrine of Foreign Equivalents |
122-126 |
6.20.a |
|||
German Case Law
on Foreign Marks |
126-133 |
stop before "[D] The Trademark Law Making
Dynamic" on pg. 133 |
|||
Types of Multilateral Trademark Agreements |
138-141 |
6.22.a |
|||
Freeman, Reshaping Protection . . . :
Looking Beyond GATT |
141-145 |
||||
Schmidt-Szalewski – Int’l
Protection of TM after TRIPS |
145-149 |
R |
|||
Paris Convention implementation in National
Law |
150 |
||||
Vanity Fair Mills
v. T. Eaton Co. |
150-153 |
||||
Paris Convention Articles: 2, 6, 6bis,
6quater, 6quinquies, 6sexies, 7, and 7bis. |
n/a |
read these articles in the Paris Convention
using the links to the convention above |
|||
GM Corp. v. Ignacio
Lopez De Arriortua |
153 |
pg. 153 refers back to pgs. 71 to 76 |
6.30.a |
||
Paris Convention implementation in National
Law |
154-160 |
stop before "[4] Mechanisms Facilitating
Multinational Rights" on pg. 160 |
|||
| Guest
Lecture One: Patricia Judd |
Meet in Heritage room |
Tues., Nov. 6 |
n/a |
||
Substantive Minima – Well Known
Marks |
187 |
L |
|||
| Mostert, Well-Known Marks
|
188-191 |
||||
Well-Known Marks – notes & questions
|
192-194 |
||||
TRIPS Articles: 15 through 21 |
n/a |
read these sections in TRIPS using the links
to it above |
|||
| TRIPS, Art. 16 |
194-200 |
||||
US Federal Dilution Act & TRIPS Art.
16 |
200-201 |
stop before "FREDERICK W. MOSTERT .
. . " on pg. 201 |
|||
Heald - TRIPS & Trademarks (1996) |
212-216 |
6.40.a |
|||
TRIPS & Trademarks – other items |
216-220 |
||||
EU Trademarks |
220-227 |
stop before "PHILIPS" on pg. 227 |
|||
Scope of EU Trademark Rights Under the
Directive |
262-263 |
||||
Wagamama |
263-272 |
stop before "Notes and Questions"
on pg. 272 |
R |
||
Wagamama - notes |
272-274 |
6.50.a |
|||
| British
Sugar v. James Robertson & Sons |
274-277 |
||||
GM v. Yplon SA |
277-282 |
stop before "BAYWATCH . . . "on
pg. 282 |
|||
| Assignment | Page(s) | Comment/Notes | Start OH# |
Date |
Call Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First, read this article
about the Madrid Protocol Implementation Act. |
n/a |
7.1.a |
|||
Next, read 20
Questions about the Madrid Protocol. |
n/a |
||||
Samuels & Samuels – The Madrid
System |
947-952 |
||||
| Zelnick – The Madrid
Protocol |
953-955 |
||||
Notes – The Madrid Protocol |
955-963 |
stop before "[B] The Trademark Registration
Treaty" on pg. 963 |
|||
The Community Trademark |
1034-43 |
7.10.a |
R |
||
The Community Trademark - notes |
1043-47 |
||||
P & G’s
Application (BABY-DRY) |
1047-49 |
L |
|||
Wrigley/Light Green
case |
1050-51 |
||||
Wrigley/Light Green case - notes |
1051-56 |
stop before "[3] Enforcement" on
pg. 1056 |
|||
| Guest
Lecture Two: Jill McWhirter |
Meet in 3 BLB |
Thurs., Nov. 29 |
n/a |
||
| NOTE: pages and assignments for the remaining modules are not yet complete in all respects; the slides for those modules are forthcoming | |||||
| Assignment | Page(s) | Comment/Notes | Start OH# |
Date |
Call Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
{ forthcoming } |
? |
x.x |
??? |
tbd |
|
Last modified on November 8, 2007, by Greg R. Vetter at the University of Houston Law Center
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