Topics in Intellectual Property (Assaf)
Faculty
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| Katya Assafkatyaa@law.upenn.edu |
Additional Information
Skills Training
Expository Writing
No
Class meets in person.
Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.
I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:
- If you are absent, due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can ask for volunteers among your classmates to share their notes with you.
- If you are absent due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can make PowerPoint slides or other class materials available to you.
- Please make an appointment to meet with me and I will review/answer questions about what you missed.
Meeting Times/Location
MWF 1:30PM - 2:50PM
Tanenbaum Hall 253
Category
Upper-Level
Credits
1.0
TOPICS IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Katya Assaf Zakharov 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.
Syllabus: 1. Peter Drahos, Patents, Practical Ethics and Scientists, 29 PROMETHEUS 345 (2011) 2. Katya Assaf, Of Patents and Cobras: Changing the Incentive Structure of Patent Law, 35 CARDOZO ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 1 (2017) 3. Ikenna U. Ibe & Chukwubuikem I. Obianyo, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expression and Intellectual Property in Nigeria, 1 DE JURISCOPE LAW JOURNAL 124 (2021) 4. Katya Assaf & Lisa Herzog, Work, Identity, and the Regulation of Markets: A Study of Trademark Law in the U.S. and Germany, 44 LAW & SOCIAL INQUIRY 1083 (2019)
International and Comparative Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of international and comparative law, both substantively and procedurally; Perform legal analysis in the context of international and comparative law; Communicate effectively on topics related to international and comparative law; Demonstrate an understanding of the role of international and comparative law, and their interconnection with domestic law.
International Corporate and Trade Law
Intellectual Property and Technology Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of intellectual property law; Perform legal analysis in the context of intellectual property law; Communicate effectively on topics related to intellectual property; Demonstrate an understanding of the interconnection between technology and intellectual property, and how they affect other areas of law and society.
Perspectives on the Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of how the law affects, and is affected by, the individual course topic; Perform legal analysis in the context of the individual course topic; Communicate effectively on the legal and other aspects of the individual course topic; Demonstrate the ability to use other disciplines to analyze legal issues relevant to the individual course topic, including economics, philosophy, and sociology, as appropriate.
Administrative and Regulatory Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of administrative and regulatory law and the administrative process, including the role of statutory authorization and work of administrative agencies; Perform legal analysis in the context of administrative and regulatory law; Communicate effectively on topics related to administrative and regulatory law; Demonstrate an understanding of the role administrative and regulatory law play in our legal system and in society as a whole.