Intellectual Property Law

Learning Outcome 1: Develop a critical awareness of the application of their knowledge of IP into the business environment
Learning Outcome 2: The ability to identify, research and analyse relevant legal issues resulting from the protection and use of intellectual property
Learning Outcome 3: The awareness and knowledge and a practical understanding of and the ability to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the legal environment controlling and affecting the development, protection, acquisition, infringement and commercial exploitation of intellectual property in an international context.
Learning Outcome 4: The ability to design a plan of action relating to the strategic management, valuation and commercialisation of intellectual property (licensing, joint venture, borrowing, raising capital etc) in the business environment.

Task Details:

Topic incorporate the diverse issues withinIP law, including the legal basis and the practical issues of defining an IP strategy but offer a difference in approach between a critical essay and a client-based report to draft. The length of both options are the same (3000words), and both assess the student's ability to understand and apply the substantive elements of IP lawand building a commercial strategy via appropriate use of statute, case law and valid secondary sources written in a manner that is appropriate to the audience.

In compliance with the Law School Handbook, the word count is a limit and must not be overridden. There is no 10% +/-. This limit does not count footnotes that are ONLY used for reference, Additional description on the footnotes WILL count towards to word limit. The bibliography does not count towards word count. A bibliography is required of sources you have used and / or read but not used. Please use the separate paragraphs within the bibliography ie legislation first ( statute only not every section), law cases with full reference, then secondary sources. You are advised to follow examples in your core textbook as good practice.

You are working for the Director of IP Development in JD Sports Ltd. He has asked you to prepare an IP audit of the present and potential IP that will increase sales for the company, either by ownership or licence agreement.

Writing in the form of an essay, you should identify 4 separate IPRs and explain their likely contribution to the company with reference to the contents of an IP audit covered in this module. Specifically, you should identify

(i) the legal basis for the IPR, with reference to statute and case law, and
(ii) their current strategic value to the JD brand (not monetary) and any likely identifiable threats to the value of these IPRs.

Please consider that mere description is not the learning outcome for a masters module, thus you MUST spend most of your word limit on identifying the strategic value and any specific threats to the IPRs you have identified.

Both parts attract equal marks

As your audience will be a Board of Directors you must make reference to the products and market position of the company. All the directors have some knowledge of IP so you should use primary sources of law to an appropriate level, using the formative assessment guidance and feedback.

You can start with the Case Study provided, but you will need to present the results of your further research into the company's strategic aims. You can assume that all the directors have some knowledge of IP so you should use primary sources of law to an appropriate level, using the formative assessment guidance and feedback.

We will have practised these skills in seminars thus attendance at seminars is vital and you should use the feedback from the formative exercise and seminar exercises on constructing this report.

You can assume that all the directors have some knowledge of IP so you should use primary sources of law to an appropriate level, using the formative assessment guidance and feedback. You should reference your cases using the OSCOLA system, including a bibliography. You may write in the first or third person. You may also use opinion from secondary sources of reasonable validity.

Presentation Requirements:

Choose ONE of the two options to this assessment. Either option requires submission online via Blackboard in Word format, Aerial 12, single line spacing. Use OSCOLA referencing with a bibliography.