The course is designed for students who already have some understanding of patent law. It will help to increase the knowledge of international aspects of patent law by comparison of law and practice in different jurisdictions, in particular in the US, the countries of the European Patent Convention, and the far east, particularly Japan.



The course deals with basic differences in patentability aspects, such as different views of novelty, obviousness/inventive step, utility/industrial applicability, exclusions from patentability in biotechnology, software and business methods and medical treatment, and differences in procedure of patent procurement, scope of protection and enforcement. The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which allows easy access to international protection by a single application, will be dealt with in such detail as to enable students to use these procedures in their potential work as patent agents. Information will be given on other important international agreements in the field of patents, in particular the Paris Convention, the TRIPs Agreement (World Trade Organization), the WIPO Patent Law Treaty and regional treaties such as the Intellectual Property part of NAFTA, the European Patent Convention, the Eurasian Patent Convention and others.



The course material consists of selected materials available in books, journal publications, treaties, laws and regulations, information distributed over the internet, and includes also teaching material prepared by officials of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).



Fall semester grading: 80% Research Paper and 20% Class Prep and Participation.

IPSI grading: 100% Final Examination.