LAW3074 :Intellectual Property Law Assignment

Please answer one of the following questions:

1. Please discuss terms of protection of intellectual property rights in different IP domains, such as copyright, trade mark, patent and design law. Consider whether the term of protection is appropriate or not. Critically evaluate, also from a law and economics analysis perspective, whether the present terms of protection, also in light of term extensions, serve or hinder the promotion of creativity and innovation. You can consider IP theories/justifications to justify policy suggestions for longer or shorter terms of protection.

2. Today, AI and algorithms write poems, novels and news articles, compose music, edit photographs, create video-games, and make paintings and other artworks. Please discuss how AI-generated creativity is regulated under the present legal framework in the UK, the EU and the US. In particular, is AI-generating creativity considered an author under the present copyright law framework as much as human authors? Once, you have answered this question, please discuss also alternative/proposed policy solutions to regulate AI-generated creativity.

3. Critically discuss the absolute grounds for refusal of registration under ss3(3)(a), of the UK Trade Marks Act 1994: trademarks that contravene public policy or morality. Please refer to the application of this ground of refusal as acknowledged by UK courts, the Court of Justice of the European Union in its case law and courts in the United States. Please also discuss the policy considerations underlying this ground of refusal as acknowledged by courts in multiple jurisdictions. After highlighting the competing rights and interests at stake in the application of this ground for refusal, please provide your own conclusions on the balancing of rights and interests when applying this ground of refusal and whether this ground for refusal is justified at all and should be maintained or possibly dropped.

4. Patent protection is essential to pharmaceutical innovation as it provides incentives to engage in the research and development of new products. However, the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has shown increasing tension between patent protection and public health. The question remains whether the current intellectual property system is equipped with or designed to address the crisis like of COVID-19 and beyond. Therefore, critically review and evaluate the relationship the tension between patent and public health in light of the WTO TRIPS waiver debate.

5. To encourage and reward innovation and the advancement of science, patents provide the inventor with the exclusive right to prevent third parties from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing for these purposes the patented product or process. However, the increasing human and machine interaction has created a debate about inventorship in patent law. In particular, the issue of whether artificial intelligence (AI) could be an inventor for patent protection has been the subject of debate and discussion. Identify the key arguments, issues, and challenges of AI inventorship in patent law. In doing so, discuss and analyze recent case laws from the UK, EU, and Australia. 4

6. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) inherently feature creativity and contribute to the innovation life cycle by addressing societal needs. To this end, IPRs play a vital role in sustainable development. Therefore, critically analyse the relationship between intellectual property and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In doing so, evaluate the role of IPRs in achieving UN SDGs by examining international IP instruments.