Intensive Course: Topics in Intellectual Property

Note: The add/drop date for this course is Monday, January 5 at 10:00 PM.

Course Location: Please see the "Intensive Course Schedule" under Schedules and Timetables (http://www.law.utoronto.ca/academic-programs/schedules).

Note: Attendance at intensive courses is mandatory for the duration of the course.  

This short course will focus on the distinctive features of Intellectual Property in the United States and Germany. These two legal systems are remarkably different in their philosophical perceptions of work – as “human capital” (following Adam Smith) or as an integral part of one’s personality (following Hegel). These perceptions have an important impact on the field of Intellectual Property. Should we regard one’s creation as an economic asset or as one’s “spiritual child”? Is copying another’s creation a desirable activity that enhances market competition or a meritless theft of another’s creativity? The answers to these questions are closely connected to the philosophical perception of the role of work in an individual’s life. Consequently, the US-American and the German legal systems tend to give remarkably different answers to these and many other questions in the field of Intellectual Property. In this course, we will take a glimpse at Intellectual Property regulation in both legal systems, outlining the differences between them and putting these differences into their historical and philosophical contexts.

We will also refer to international harmonization of Intellectual Property – in the European and the global context. We will inquire what kind of philosophies are reflected in the international regulation and whether the same international rules are interpreted similarly or differently in the American and German legal contexts.