Aim
The economies in Europe, North America and certain states in East Asia are under transformation from producing industrial economies to knowledge economies based on Bio-science, Information technology, adventure tourism and design, where knowledge has replaced goods as products in a globalized economy. The legal protection system is known as Intellectual Property Rights. Knowledge in the scope of the Rights and their applications is a requirement for the originator and the company in order to profit from a specific knowledge.

Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must

• be able to acquire basic knowledge about intellectual property rights conditions that a master of science meets in the professional life and

• show insight in that commercializing of intellectual property rights requires a strategic thinking about how to utilize the rights in a competitive manner during international trade.

Skills and abilities
For a passing grade the student must

• independently be able to solve elementary legal question by applying laws and rules within the taught areas of rights and

• be able to identify legal severe problem, which is a condition for being able to decide when juridical expertise should be consulted.

Judgement and approach
For a passing grade the student must

• be able to independently identify the immaterial resources to which it is possible to derive a legal monopoly and

• be able to judge where they immaterial resources can be a part of company value creating process and skills to apply legal rules within immaterial law and other juridical areas.

Contents
The course starts with a survey of the Swedish, European and American systems of Intellectual Property Rights, sources of legal and conventional material and on how these laws are grounded and applied. Then these laws and conventions are considered from both a European as well as an American perspective and in some aspects also with regard to the laws in Japan and China. The focus of the course is on Intellectual Property Right since they are considered a growing part of the value adding process in companies and at the same time are a more important mean of competition. Issues of Intellectual Property such as Patents, Copyright, Computer programs, Integrated circuits, Trademarks and Design will be brought up on the course, as well as rules and regulations of marketing and competition. Other issues regarding the commercialization of an invention will be discussed in the course, such as questions regarding license agreements.

Literature
Bently L, Sherman, B: Intellectual Property Law, Second edition.
Other literature of the course will be Conventions, Articles, Legal Cases and material on Intellectual Property Rights from the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO, of which most material will be found at www.es.lth.se/ugradcourses/ipr