International Intellectual Property Law

 

Reading assignments

 

            Reading assignments are principally from Dinwoodie, Hennessey, & Perlmutter, International Intellectual Property Law and Policy (2001) (“CB”), and the 2006 Supplement (“Supp.”).  The 2006 Supplement, as well as some handouts, will be made available via my website, which you can reach by starting from the Wayne State Law School home page, www.law.wayne.edu, and following the links to the faculty pages.  You will need Internet access to get these materials.  Access is available through terminals at the Law School library.

 

Assignments for each class are listed below, subject to change as the course progresses.  The cases and other texts listed in the “Primary Materials” column are the materials on which we will primarily focus in class discussions, but we may address any of the readings in each assignment.  On the final exam you will be responsible for all of the reading assignments.  The Notes & Questions that are listed in the “Reading Assignments” column (indicated with an asterisk) are the ones you should be sure to read; other Notes & Questions material in the readings is optional.  Therefore, e.g., the assignment for Class 1 includes pages 25-41 of the casebook, including notes 1 and 4-7 on pages 25-28, but excluding the Notes on pages 34 and 41.

 

 

 

Class

Topics

Primary Materials

Reading Assignments

Handouts and Slides

Class 1

 

Monday, Aug. 27

Part I.  Overview and Introduction

 

Chapter 1. Overview and Introduction

 

Overview

 

Introductory Themes

 

Territoriality of IP Rights

 

Part II.  Principles of International Protection

 

Chapter 2. International Law and Institutions

 

The nature and sources of international law

·        Koumantos, Reflections on the Concept of Intellectual Property (1998)

·        McCarthy, Intellectual Property—America’s Overlooked Export (1989)

·        Dinwoodie, The Integration of Domestic and International Intellectual Property Lawmaking (1999)

·        Gana, Has Creativity Died in the Third World?  Some Implications of the Internationalization of Intellectual Property (1995)

·        Computer Associates Int’l, Inc. v. Altai, Inc. (2d Cir. 1997)

·        Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law § 102

·        Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969)

CB 1-19

 

*CB 25-28 (Notes 1, 4-7)

 

CB 28-41

Handout

Slides

Class 2

 

Wednesday, Aug. 29

Leading international institutions and actors

 

Treaties under U.S. law

 

Relationship between international and U.S. law

 

National treatment; most-favored-nation treatment

·        WIPO, WTO, and EU

·        S. Rep. 103-53, Treaties and Other International Agreements:  The Role of the United States Senate (1993)

·        Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003)

·        European Communities—Protection of Trademarks and Geographical Indications (WTO Panel 2005)

CB 41-52 (stop before part [6])

 

CB 57-62 (stop before Executive Agreements)

 

*CB 77-79 (Notes 3-4)

 

Supp. 1-4 (Eldred v. Ashcroft)

 

CB 79-80

 

CB 827-29

 

EC—Protection of Trademarks and Geographical Indications (handout)

Handout

Slides

EC—Protection of Trademarks and GIs (handout) 

Class 3

 

Wednesday, Sept. 5

Continued


Chapter 3. Industrial Property

Trademark and unfair competition law

 

Territoriality

·        Murray v. BBC (2d Cir. 1996)

 

·        Mother’s Restaurants Inc. v. Mother’s Other Kitchen, Inc. (TTAB 1983)

·        Vaudable v. Montmartre, Inc. (NY Sup. Ct. 1959)

·        Person’s Co., Ltd. v. Christman (Fed. Cir. 1990)

·        Buti v. Impressa Perosa, S.R.L. (2d Cir. 1998)

CB 82-86

 

*CB 86-87 (Note 1)

 

CB 89-102

 

*CB 108-11 (Notes 3-6, 11-12)

Handout

Slides

Class 4

 

Monday, Sept. 10

Continued

·        International Bancorp LLC v. Societe des Bains de Mer (4th Cir. 2003)

·        Grupo Gigante v. Dallo & Co. (9th Cir. 2004)

·        ITC Ltd. v. Punchgini, Inc. (2d Cir. 2007)

Supp. 27-57 (through carryover paragraph at the top of p. 57) (here’s a shorter version)

 

ITC Ltd. v. Punchgini, Inc. (handout)

Handout

Slides

ITC Ltd. v. Punchgini, Inc. (handout)

Class 5

 

Wednesday, Sept. 12

The trademark lawmaking dynamic

 

Overview of international trademark agreements

 

Introduction to the Paris Convention

 

Implementation in national law

·        Denicola, Some Thoughts on the Dynamics of Federal Trademark Legislation and the Trademark Dilution Act (1996)

·        Leaffer, Protecting US IP Abroad (1991)

·        Freeman, Reshaping Protection in Today’s Global Village (1995)

·        Schmidt-Szalewski, The International Protection of Trademarks After the TRIPS Agreement (1998)

·        Vanity Fair Mills v. T. Eaton Co. (2d Cir. 1956)

·        General Motors Corp. v. Ignacio Lopez (E.D. Mich. 1996)

·        Grupo Gigante v. Dallo & Co. (9th Cir. 2004)

CB 133-53

 

*CB 154 - 58 (Notes 1, 4-6)

 

CB 71-76

 

Supp. 53-54

Handout

Slides

Hypothetical--trademarks and territoriality

Class 6

 

Monday, Sept. 17

Mechanisms facilitating multinational rights

·        Lanham Act, § 44

·        SCM Corporation v. Langis Foods Ltd. (D.C. Cir. 1976)

·        Crocker Nat’l Bank v. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TTAB 1984)

·        Linville v. Rinard (TTAB 1993)

CB 160-83

 

*CB 183-85 (Notes 1, 4, 6, 7)

Handout

Slides

Class 7

 

Wednesday, Sept. 19

The requirement to register a foreign trademark “as is”

 

·        In re Rath (Fed. Cir. 2005)

·        United States—Section 211 Omnibus Act (“Havana Club”) (WTO App. Body 2002)

Supp. 60-71

 

Supp. 5-7

 

Supp. 71-81

 

*Supp. 81-82 (Notes 1-4)

Handout

Slides

Class 8

 

Monday, Sept. 24

Substantive minima in the Paris Convention: well-known marks

·        Mostert, Well-Known and Famous Marks (1996)

·        TRIPS, Art. 16

·        Heald, Trademarks and Geographical Indications (1996)

·        WIPO Resolution Concerning Provisions on the Protection of Well-Known Marks (1999)

·        Hypothetical -- Protection of well-known marks (handout)

CB 187-91

 

*CB 192 (Note 3)

 

CB 194-96

 

*CB 197-98 (Notes 2-4)

 

CB 200 (H.R. Rep. only)

 

CB 201-03

 

*CB 204 (Note 3)

 

CB 205-11

 

*CB 211-12 (Note 2)

 

Supp. 83 (Note 3)

Handout

Slides

Hypothetical -- Protection of
well-known marks (handout)

Optional:
Empresa Cubana v. Culbro

ITC v. Punchgini

Class 9

 

Wednesday, Sept. 26

TRIPS on trademarks

 

 

·        Heald, Trademarks and Geographical Indications (1996)

·        United States—Section 211 Omnibus Act (“Havana Club”) (WTO App. Body 2002)

·        Hypotheticals on trademarks under TRIPS (handout)

CB 212-16

 

Supp. 83-93 (stop before section IX of opinion)

 

*Supp. 96-97 (Notes 1 & 2)

 

*CB 216-20 (Notes 1, 2, 4, & 8)

Handout

Slides

Hypotheticals -- Trademarks under TRIPS

Class 10

 

Monday, Oct. 1

Trademarks in the European Union

·        Jaffey, The New European Trade Marks Regime (1997)

·        Trademark Directive, Arts. 2-3

·        Philips Elec. BV v. Remington Consumer Prods. (1997) (U.K.)

·        Ide Line Aktiebolag v. Philips Elec. NV (1997) (Sweden)

CB 220-23

 

CB 226-44 (stop after Ide Line)

Handout

Slides

Class 11

 

Wednesday, Oct. 3

Geographical indications

·        Conrad, The Protection of Geographical Indications in the TRIPS Agreement (1996)

·        Hypotheticals on geographical indications (handout)

CB 315-32

 

*CB 332-36 (Notes 1, 2, 4, and 9)

Handout

Slides

Hypotheticals -- Geographical indications under TRIPS

Summary of geographical indications under TRIPS

Class 12

 

Monday, Oct. 8

Industrial designs

 

Patents: the right of priority

·        Kur, TRIPS and Design Protection (1996)

·        Application of Hans Hilmer (1966)

·        Reichman, Universal Minimum Standards of Intellectual Property Protection under TRIPS (1995)

·        TRIPS Arts. 27-33

·        Paris Convention Art. 5 (current version)

CB 348-55

 

*CB 356 (Notes 1 & 3)

 

CB 387-98

 

CB 425-31

Handout

Slides

Class 13

 

Wednesday, Oct. 10

TRIPS on patents

·        Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (2001)

·        Decision of the General Council on Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration (2003)

·        Consumers International, Statement to TRIPS Council on Access to Medicine (2005)

·        Decision of the Council of TRIPS, Extension of the Transition Period Under Article 66.1 for Least-Developed Country Members (2005)

·        Canada—Patent Protection of Pharmaceutical Products (WTO Panel 2000)

·        The Doha Declaration FAQ's (handout)

*CB 434-36 (Notes 4, 6-7)

 

Supp. 157-75 (the Protocol at pp. 166-71 repeats the provisions of the Decision at pp. 160-64, so you only need to glance at the Protocol)

 

CB 437-70 (you can skip CB 439-58, which summarizes the arguments of the parties)

Handout

Slides


The Doha Declaration FAQs

Class 14

 

Monday, Oct. 15

Chapter 4. Copyright and Related Rights

 

Introduction to international copyright protection and the Berne Convention

·        Perlmutter, Future Directions in International Copyright (1998)

·        Ricketson, The Birth of the Berne Union (1986)

·        Ringer, The Role of the United States in International Copyright—Past, Present, and Future (1968)

·        Berne Convention Implementation Act (1988)

·        WIPO, Intellectual Property Reading Material (1998)

·        The Berne Convention FAQ's (handout)

CB 513-48

Handout

Slides

The Berne Convention FAQs

Class 15

 

Wednesday, Oct. 17

NAFTA and TRIPS

 

U.S. works that failed to comply with formalities

 

 

·        Gendreau, Copyright Harmonization in the European Union and in North America (1995)

·        Geuze & Wager, WTO Dispute Settlement Practice Relating to the TRIPS Agreement (1999)

·        Exchange of letters between U.S. and WIPO

CB 561-75

*CB 563 (Note 1)
*CB 565 (Notes 1-2)
*CB 574 (Note 2)

 

 

Handout

Slides

Class 16

 

Monday, Oct. 22

TRIPS status of exceptions and limitations in national law

·        United States—Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act (WTO Panel 2000)

CB 575-619

 

*CB 619-20 (Notes 1-2)

Handout

Slides

Class 17

 

Wednesday, Oct. 24

Treatment of foreigners:

 

National treatment

 

Connecting factors

·        Stewart, International Copyright and Neighboring Rights (1989)

·        Karnell, The Berne Convention Between Authors’ Rights and Copyright Economics (1995)

·        Stewart, supra

·        Hypotheticals on Berne connecting factors (handout)

CB 622-27 (you only have to read sections (c)(1), (e)(1) & (e)(2))

 

CB 628-30

 

*CB 630-32 (Notes 1, 3, & 5)

 

CB 636-40

Handout

Slides

Hypotheticals -- Berne Connecting Factors

Class 18

 

Monday, Oct. 29

Copyright harmonization in the EU

 

Digital copyright issues

·        Caviedes, International Copyright Law:  Should the European Union Dictate Its Development (1998)?

·        Ginsburg, The Role of National Copyright in an Era of International Copyright Norms (1999)

·        WIPO Primer on Intellectual Property and E-Commerce (2000)

·        Samuelson, The U.S. Digital Agenda at WIPO (1997)

·        A bunch of Directives and treaties:

o     EC Software Directive

o     Software Directive

o     Rental Rights Directive

o     Term Directive

o     Database Directive

o     Info Society Directive

o     E-Commerce Directive

o     WIPO Internet Treaties

CB 705-14

 

*CB 715-16 (Notes 1 & 2)

 

CB 722-34

 

*CB 735-36 (Notes 1 & 7)

 

Handout

Slides

Class 19

 

Wednesday, Oct. 31

*CLASS RESCHEDULED TO OCT. 29, 7:35-9:00 pm

Implementation of treaty provisions on circumvention

 

Electronic copyright management systems

 

Remaining role of national law

·        Technological Adjuncts to Copyright, Statement of Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyrights, Before the House Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property (1997)

o     17 U.S.C. § 1201

o     Info Society