LAW47515: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW

• None

• None

• None

• To provide a study of the fundamental aspects of artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property law;
• To introduce students to the granting criteria and post-grant exercise of intellectual property rights at the national, European and international levels;
• To introduce the current debate about AI-related intellectual property law issues;
• To enable students to develop their analytical skills;
• To introduce students to legal, moral, social and political debates which inform the subject matter and scope of the various rights at the national, European and international levels.

• A general introduction to the relevant AI technologies;
• Adiscussion of challenges that AI imposes on the intellectual property system;
• A general introduction to various levels of laws regulating intellectual property rights: national, European and international;
• An introduction to the fundamental aspects of intellectual property law at the national and regional level;
• An introduction of the current policy and practice of the leading institutional bodies charged with responsibility for administering intellectual property rights;
• An introduction to contemporary critical analyses of AI-related issues within intellectual property law and policy in a national and international context.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Students will gain a basic understanding of AI technologies;
• Students will gain an in-depth knowledge of the three main intellectual property rights, patents, copyright and trade marks;
• Students will develop an understanding of the key legal concepts, principles and doctrines which underpin intellectual property law;
• Students will develop a critical understanding of the challenges of AI technologies;
• Students will develop a critical understanding of the methods of interpretation and application of national, regional and international intellectual property law and policy.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Students will be able to identify the role and functions of the UK and European bodies responsible for granting intellectual property rights;
• Students will be able to explain relevant AI technologies and their impact on the intellectual property law system;
• Students will be able to identify and use the leading primary and secondary sources relevant to a given legal issue, and be able to use them to reach informed and reasoned conclusions on points of law relating to intellectual property;
• Students will be able to analyse the jurisprudence in intellectual property law critically;
• Students will be able to identify the legal issues relevant to a specific problem relating to intellectual property;
• Students will be able to analyse and evaluate the impact of AI technology on the existing law in the light of the legal, social, political and moral questions raised.

Key Skills:

• Students will be able to critically analyse the impact of AI in relation to specific aspects of intellectual property law;
• Students will be able to write a substantial and well-researched piece of work on specific aspects of intellectual property law

• The teaching will be based on a combination of lectures and seminars. The Lectures will introduce the topic, and the seminars, supported by substantial but targeted reading assignments before each seminar, will provide a deeper understanding of the issues. The readings are selected from both established doctrinal sources as well as cutting-edge scholarship in the area. The lectures will work from a basic level of doctrinal knowledge and build on that foundation into discussions of more difficult and controversial issues within the seminars. This will encourage students to learn the material and develop the ability to discuss it and understand where each aspect of the reading fits in with the relevant debates;
• The assessment supports the aims of the teaching methods. The essay will assess the ability of the students not only to analyse the subject material but to perform research in the discipline and present a structured, articulate argument on the subject.

The formative will consist of writing a review of a selected topical article. Writing the review will help students understand an area of intellectual property law as well as how to put forward a coherent argument. The review will be 1000 words in length.

If you have a question about Durham's modular degree programmes, please visit our Help page. If you have a question about modular programmes that is not covered by the Help page, or a query about the on-line Postgraduate Module Handbook, please contact us.

Prospective Students: If you have a query about a specific module or degree programme, please Ask Us.

Current Students: Please contact your department.