COURSE BRIEF

COURSE TITLE Intellectual Property PRE-REQUISITES NA

Law
COURSE CODE LLLB407L TOTAL CREDITS
COURSE TYPE Compulsory L-T-P FORMAT 4-0-1

COURSE SUMMARY
‘Intellectual Property’ is a generic term that probably came into regular use during the
twentieth century. This generic label is used to refer to a group of legal regimes, each of
which, to different degrees, confers rights of ownership in a particular subject matter.
Copyright, patents, designs, trademarks and protection against unfair competition form the
traditional core of intellectual property. The subject matter of these rights is disparate.
Inventions, literary works, artistic works, designs and trademarks formed the subject matter
of early intellectual property law. One striking feature of intellectual property is that, despite
its early historical links to the idea of monopoly and privilege, the scope of its subject matter
continues to expand. The twentieth century has seen new or existing subject matter added to
present intellectual property systems (for example, the protection of computer software as
part of copyright, the patentability of micro-organisms as part of patent law), and new
systems created to protect existing or new subject matter (for example, plant variety
protection and circuit layouts). The strongly expansionary nature of intellectual property
systems shows no sign of changing.

COURSE-SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOMES (CO)

By the end of this program, students should have the following knowledge, skills and values:
CO1: Understand the basic provisions of IP Protection
CO2: Evaluate the pros and cons of a strict IP regime
CO3: Develop critical thinking upon the emerging issues in IP that transcend national
boundaries
CO4: Have a perspective of Human Rights implication of IP

How are the above COs aligned with the Program-Specific Objectives (POs) of the degree?
IP is one of the most sought-after disciplines for modern age legal practitioners. Interestingly
it is an area which caters to the aspirations of all- the corporate lawyer, the human rights
activist, the policy analyst or the international law expert. IP goes beyond its strictu sensu

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structure. By attending this course, students will be exposed to the fascinating world of
creativity and its protection, thus developing critical thinking necessary for the advocacy
skills. Through assignments, students will further polish their research acumen.

Detailed Syllabus

Module 1 Introduction (Contact hours: 10)

Idea, evolution and objectives of IP- philosophical and economic rationale.

Kinds of IP, Indian offices and the administrative structure.

International Regime – WIPO, TRIPs Agreement, Paris Convention, Berne Convention, Patent
Cooperation Treaty, Rome Convention

Module 2 Industrial Property-A: (all the IP streams including Module 3 and 4 will be discussed
in the background of TRIPS wherever necessary) (Contact hours:15)

Patent- history- Bakshi Teg Chand and Ayyangar Committee Report; introduction to the Patents Act,
1970; understanding invention; rights; eligibility and qualifications; disqualifications; registration;
licenses; compulsory licenses; patenting of genes and life forms; issues related to access to medicine;
Doha Declaration; bolar exemption; duration; infringement; remedies.

Design: rationale of protecting designs; introduction to Designs Act, 2000- definition, eligibility,
qualifications and disqualifications; rights; registration; overlap with copyright; infringement;
remedies.

Module 3 Industrial Property-B (Contact hours:15)

Trademark: evolution of the trademark law- from 1958 to the Trade Marks Act, 1999; difference
between mark and trademark; rights of the trademark holder; grounds of refusal; registration; domain
name disputes; infringement and remedies

Geographical Indication: introduction to the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and

Protection) Act, 1999; subject matter; criteria to register; registration; duration; case study- Darjeeling
Tea.

Module 4 Copyright (Contact hours: 12)

Basic concepts- originality, idea and expression etc; subject matter and definitions in the Copyright
Act, 1957; rights; neighbouring rights; infringement; remedies; section 52 exemptions and
compulsory license; copyright societies; copyright protection in the digital world,

Module 5 Other Aspects of IP (Contact hours: 10)

Plant varieties and farmers rights
Traditional knowledge
Trade secrets and data protection
Artificial intelligence
Social utility, public interest and the question of development

STUDIO WORK / LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS:

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NA

TEXTBOOKS/LEARNING RESOURCES:

1. V.K. Ahuja, “Law Relating to Intellectual Property Rights in India”, 2nd Edition
Butterworth Publication, (2013)

2. N.S. Gopalakrishnan and T.G. Agitha, Principles of Intellectual Property (Eastern

Book Company, 2015)

3. Lionel Bently and Brad Sherman, Intellectual Property Law (Oxford University Press,
2014)

4. Alka Chawla, “Copyright and Related Rights: National and International

Perspectives” Mcmillan India, (2007)
5. P. Narayanan, “Law of Copyright and Industrial Designs”, Eastern Law House; (4th
ed., 2007)
6. P. Narayanan, “Law of Trade Marks and Passing off”, Eastern Law House (6th ed.,
2007)
7. P. Narayanan, “Patent Law”, Eastern Law House (4th ed., 2006)

REFERNCE BOOKS/LEARNING RESOURCES:

1. Ashwani Kr. Bansal, “Law of Trade Marks in India”, 3rd Edition Commercial Law
Publication, (2009)
2. Ashwani Kr. Bansal, “Materials on Copyright”, Delhi University, (2004)
3. V.K. Ahuja, “Law of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights: National and International
Perspectives” LexisNexis Delhi (2007)
4. Gillian Davies, Kevin Garnett, and Gwilym Harbottle, “Copinger and Skone James on
Copyright” Thomson Reuters (Legal) Limited (16th ed., 2011)
5. David Kitchin, David Llewelyn, James Mellor, Richard Meade, Thomas Moody,
“Kerly’s Law of Trade Marks and Trade Names”, Sweet and and Maxwell (14th
Edition 2011)
6. W. Cornish and D. Llewelyn, “Intellectual Property: Patents, Copyright, Trademarks
and Allied Rights”, Sweet and Maxwell (8th ed., 2013)

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 12. Bernard O'Connor, “The Law of Geographical Indications”, Camron (Reprinted
2007).
13. Dev Gangjee, “Relocating the Law of Geographical Indications”, Cambridge
University Press 2012.
14. P. Torremans, “Copyright Law: A Handbook of Contemporary Research, Edward
Elegar Publishing Limited, (2007).

TEACHING-LEARNING STRATEGIES
Teaching will mostly be on the MS Teams in a regular classroom mode. Wherever there would be any
requirement, literature will be shared. Assignments will be given to the students and they will be
evaluated based on their presentation.

EVALUATION POLICY
a) Mid-term examination (20)
b) End-of-term examination (40)
c) Project Submission and Presentation (15+5)
d) Quiz (10+10) – three quizzes, best of two

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