The course is designed for students who already have some acquaintance with intellectual property law at a national level. Since regional and international arrangements in this field are an outgrowth of national laws, comparisons between approaches in those laws will form an integral part of this course.

1. General
   1. Historical development of International Intellectual Property.
   2. International institutions concerned with Intellectual Property:
      1. World Intellectual Property Organisation and the conventions it administers;
      2. World Trade Organisation: dispute settlement and TRIPs;
      3. European Union and other regional bodies.
2. Specific fields
   Topics to be selected from the following:
   1. Copyright and related rights under existing and prospective treaties and conventions (particularly Berne, WIPO Treaties, TRIPs). The challenges of the internet.
   2. Intellectual property over technology: scope of patent systems, biotechnology, access to medicines, limitations on patent rights;
3. Intellectual property and global marketing:
   1. International arrangements concerning trade marks and unfair competition;
   2. Geographical and other denominations of origin, including types of collective marks.
4. Traditional and indigenous knowledge.