International Intellectual Property, Fall 2009

Course Description

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.

Generally Applicable Syllabus Information

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.

Class Schedule and Other Information

Contact Information and Office Hours

These are posted on my home page at:

www.law.uh.edu/faculty/gvetter/

Course Coverage Table

The tables immediately below provide the detailed assignments for this course. They also may provide links to materials for each class and other items related to the course. In order to allow flexibility in the course, 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 a few days before a class. 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 casebook makes liberal use of "problems" - which in many cases are fact patterns adopted from actual cases. The problems' purpose is to illustrate twists in doctrine and provide additional context. When a problem is included in the assigned reading, there is no reason to write out an answer to the problem. Rather, it is sufficient to think about the problem and if desired make a few notes. Problems in the assigned reading may be the focus of class discussion, but will not always be touched upon in class.

The table below intends to account for only thirteen weeks of the semester. One class of the remaining week will be for the possibility of 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.

Case names are listed in the table below as assignments.

Revision to Generally Applicable Syllabus: Call assignment for cases is by individual using the first letter of the last name, proceeding alphabetically most of the time. In some instances, multiple persons share the same first letter of the last name, in which case a number indicates who the person is based on alphabetical order. If a person assigned to a case does not appear for a class session, the first person listed for the next class day will take that person's place. Adjustment of individual case assignments may occur up to mid-evening (around 7 pm) of the night before class. After a person has discussed a case in class, the letter indicating the assignment will be changed to upper case.

Students must email me if they will not attend in order for this system to work well.

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.