Technology and Intellectual Property Law LLM

This module aims to provide students with a solid foundation for their studies in intellectual property and technology law. It will introduce key concepts in technology and intellectual property law and provide students with the necessary skills for the rest of their studies.

Written work on a legal topic of your choice resulting from individual research and normally based upon material falling within the area covered by the degree for which you are registered.

Global Data Protection Law explores the obligations of data controllers and processors, the rights of data subjects, and the powers of data protection authorities across international, regional, and national data protection laws. It analyses the differences between those data protection laws and critically evaluates their effectiveness in balancing the protection of personal data with other values and interests.

This module offers an in depth examination of the laws and regulatory perspectives relating to the digital economy. It explores the implications of UK, European and international rules that apply to digital platforms and Big Tech, and their impacts on end-users and digital consumers. The module engages with a series of themes and topics like privacy and commercial surveillance in data-driven economies, cybersecurity, social media and online harms, algorithmic governance and automation. participation for digital citizens. 

The module will deal with the basic principles of copyright law at an advanced level. British copyright law will be studied with reference to the international and European obligations of the United Kingdom in this respect. This covers an introduction to copyright law, subject-matter of protection, authorship, ownership and dealings, economic and moral rights, term of protection, infringement and defences.

This module will offer an in-depth analysis of the relationship between intellectual property and private international law. It will cover all aspects of jurisdiction and choice of law.

This module offers the fundamentals of international commercial arbitration, the most important dispute resolution mechanism for international business transactions.

The module begins with the legal framework of international commercial arbitration. It then deals with jurisdiction of arbitration tribunals and certain procedural issues arising in arbitration practice. The module ends with the setting aside and recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards. 

The module focuses mainly on English law of arbitration which is put in comparative perspective and compared and contrasted especially with the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.

This module examines the body of rules and principles governing international sales transactions under two prominent legal regimes of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Vienna, 1980), and English Sales Law.

This module considers: fundamental issues in company law such as separate legal personality and limited liability; enforcement of directors’ duties; theories of corporate governance and the implications of these in practice; the evolution of corporate governance across different jurisdictions; key corporate governance debates including shareholder-stakeholder debate, directors’ remuneration; and the relevance of corporate governance in the wider social, economic, and political context within which corporations operate. 

This module examines how companies raise equity and debt finance. Whilst the focus will be the law of England and Wales, pertinent international legal frameworks will also be touched upon. The module explores the various options available to a company when raising finance, and engages in a critical assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of each option. It also examines the risks that raising finance entails, for the company, its creditors, and the wider financial system.

This module aims to develop an understanding of the legal and ethical challenges posed by AI and robotics technologies, along with consideration of appropriate legal and regulatory responses. It provides a philosophical and legal framework for considering concepts and principles that relate to the development and use of such technologies. It also considers legal and regulatory governance at the international, regional, and national levels.

This module aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the risks and harms that the digital environment and technologies pose to the effective exercise of human rights. The module enables students to critically reflect upon the potential, and limitations, of human rights law and reasoning to accommodate and address such risks and harms posed by technology. While doing so, students will engage with applying human rights-based and ethical approaches to technology.

Students will become well-conversed with identifying, interpreting and applying relevant international, EU and UK human rights law and policy. A variety of different civil and political rights (e.g. right to privacy, right to freedom of expression, right to peaceful assembly, right to be free from discrimination, right to an effective remedy) as well as social, economic and cultural rights (e.g., right to social security, right to science) will be discussed, as these rights have been engaged in national and international case law.

Students will also become familiarised with the design and use of certain technologies, such as predictive algorithms, generative AI, online platforms, cybersecurity standards, 5G, surveillance systems, and digital ID systems, and their respective impact on end-users.

This module looks at special issues in copyright and designs and their international exploitation at an advanced level. The British, European and international law relating to these rights will be studied in detail. Comparison will also be made with national Member States laws. Special topical issues in copyright and designs law will be studied including the protection of computer programs, databases and technological protection measures. National and Community unregistered and registered design rights. Finally, students will be given an insight as to the future of copyright and designs at EU and international level.

The module examines the global competition law development from the perspective of international business. In summary it uses the US, EU and Chinese competition regimes and high profile international business cases as targets for analysis.

It first critically examines the origins of global competition rules against international business, by focusing on EU, US and Chinese competition regimes on the one hand and international organizations on the other hand. It then examines in-depth the challenges faced by international business in the areas of international price cartel regulation, multiple regulations on abuse of market dominance and cross-border mergers. It further critically examine the public and private enforcements of competition rules against international business in the global context.

By critically examining the challenges faced by international business in both the substance and enforcement of global competition regulation, the module aims to engage and motivate you to undertake original thinking and explore innovative solutions to tackle the challenges.

Module credits: 15

The module will deal with the basic principles of patent law and it will do so from an international and comparative perspective. Special attention will be paid to European and US patent law before attention will turn to biotechnological inventions and a case study on stem cell patents.

The module will deal with the basic principles of trade mark law and it will do so from an international and comparative perspective. Special attention will be paid to European and US trade mark law before attention will turn to passing-off and comparative advertising issues.

This module critically considers the concept of ‘fair (criminal) trial’ in theory and practice. International human rights law, particularly as it derives from Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, will naturally be central to this inquiry. But the law of human rights is neither our starting point nor our final destination. More ambitiously, this module draws on criminal justice, socio-legal, and comparative approaches and perspectives in order to place the law and practice of English and Welsh criminal trials in their broader legal, political, social, and moral contexts.

Although some points of law and practice will be treated in detail, developing an exhaustive account of English criminal trials is not the principal objective. Rather, we will use these details as examples and case-studies to illustrate methodological issues, broader themes and trends in criminal policy, and international comparisons highlighting the ways in which western democracies have attempted, successfully or otherwise, to meet the challenges of integrating human rights law into their domestic criminal trial processes.

This module considers how business increasingly conducts its operations with responsibility to its stakeholders and to society at large. It examines the emergence of the business and human rights regime, which forms the basis for addressing both legal developments and voluntary initiatives across a spectrum of business and industry sectors and different types of business, operating both globally and locally.  

The course examines the law applicable to insolvent and financially distressed companies. The main insolvency procedures available under the law of England and Wales will be examined to determine the extent to which they meet their aims and objectives. Key international insolvency law frameworks will also be touched given the prospect of cross-border insolvency scenarios. We will look at the justifications underpinning a corporate insolvency regime and consider how effectively different goals are balanced within it. The case for reform will also be evaluated.

This module provides an introduction to energy law. Through scholarly works and practical case studies, it will address some of the most important legal issues which relate to energy such as: the exploration of natural resources in disputed areas; transparency and control of oil revenues; environmental law issues; and justice and gender in energy transitions. Although both fossils and low carbon/renewable resources will be examined, considerable attention will be paid to hydrocarbons, as they still dominate the energy sector. 

The module will be taught through the following seminars:

1. Energy law: what, why, how?
2. Regulation of hydrocarbons: legal regime and exploratory permits
3. The ‘‘resource curse’’
4. Exploration of hydrocarbons in contested and transboundary waters
5. Human rights in extractive industries
6. Energy dispute resolution: Lex Mercatoria, Lex Petrolea and the way forward
7. Low carbon and renewable resources: contribution to energy transition and associated challenges
8. Environmental issues and legal regulation
9. Energy transition aspects