| Unit name | International Intellectual Property Law and Human Rights |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWD30114 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Plomer |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit seeks to develop an understanding of the interrelationship between intellectual property rights and human rights norms and the role of UN institutions, WTO and national courts in the elaboration, implementation and resolution of conflicts between IP rights and human rights norms.
Aims:
• To understand the history and theoretical foundations of international IP law
• To understand the role of UN institutions (WIPO, WHO) and their relationship with the WTO
• To examine and evaluate the interrelationship, coexistence and conflict between international IP norms, trade norms and human rights norms
• To understand and compare how national and regional patent offices and courts in India, Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe have responded to the challenge of aligning the obligations imposed by TRIPS with the protection of national interests and human rights.
By the end of this unit a successful student will be able to:
• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the key national and international legal instruments on IP rights and human rights and the related institutions and their relative competences.
• appraise and evaluate the tensions between international IPR and human rights Treaties
• identify how international obligations have been implemented at regional and national level through legislation or case law
• analyse, compare and evaluate critically the ways in which normative tensions are addressed and resolved.
10 lectures – 10 x 2 hour seminars
2 formative assessments: 2 x 1,000 word coursework. Formative assessments do not count towards final mark and can be optional.
1 x summative assessment: 1 x 3 hour exam in the Summer Exam Period. Summative assessments do count towards final mark.
The assessments will assess all of the intended learning outcomes for this unit.
Drahos, Peter. The global governance of knowledge: patent offices and their clients. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Dreyfuss Rochelle and Rodriguez-Garovito Cesar, Balancing wealth and health: the battle over intellectual property and access to medicines in Latin America, OUP, 2014
Geiger, Christophe (ed) Research handbook on human rights and intellectual property
Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015
H Grosse Ruse-Khan, The Protection of Intellectual Property in International Law, OUP, 2016
Helfer, Laurence and Austin Graeme, Human rights and intellectual property: mapping the global interface CUP, 2011
Matthews, Duncan. Intellectual property, human rights and development: the role of NGOs and social movements. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011
A. Plomer, Patents, Human Rights and Access to Science, Edward Elgar 2015)
