Patent law is one of the most fascinating areas of intellectual property, but also a challenging one.

With a view to stimulating innovation, the patent system has been developed. By granting a temporary exclusionary right for a technical invention, innovators are protected against free riding and copying. And innovation is an important factor in today’s worldwide competition. No progress without innovation is the adage.

A patent provides protection for a technical invention which is novel, is the result of inventive activity, and has an industrial application. Patent applications can be filed nationally, internationally or regionally. National patents give a national right. An international application, however, does not lead to an international patent. An example of a regional patent system is the European patent system, which leads to a bundle of national patents. This course will of course clarify all these intricate differences.  

This course will also focus predominantly on new technologies and recent developments in the area, without neglecting, however, the fundamental underlying principles of the patent system.

The patent system as it will be studied in this course will not be limited to a study of the Dutch patent system. There will be plenty of room for comparative analysis, with major emphasis on patent law developments in the UK, Germany and the US.

The course can be divided in various parts:

• The international and national patent system
  General introduction in the various legal regimes applicable to the patent system

• Patentable subject matter
  Computer implemented inventions:
  Open Source v Proprietary software
  Pharmaceuticals
  Medical treatment methods
  Biotechnology

• Patentability requirements:
  Novelty
  Inventive step
  Industrial application
  Sufficiency of disclosure

• Exclusive rights of the patent holder:
  Scope of protection of a patent
  Infringement
  Doctrine of equivalence

• Exceptions to the exclusive rights:
  Research exemption
  Compulsory licensing

• National and international patent litigation

• Patent law and the DOHA agenda (TRIPs):
  Access to drugs
  Biotech inventions (biopiracy, benefit sharing, biodiversity etc.)
  Parallell imports of medicaments.

Bijgewerkt 23.04.2013