General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6187 / JDOC6187 |
| Course name: | Competition Law and Intellectual Property |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | First |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
This course focuses on the interface between intellectual property laws and competition law in the United States. The interface between these two bodies of law is one of the most complex and controversial, and yet theoretically interesting, areas of competition law. This interface juxtaposes the public policy rationale behind intellectual property laws and competition policy, and requires the enforcement agencies and the courts to strike delicate balances between these two policies. With respect to patent law, for example, the treatment of patent rights under competition law requires the courts to calibrate the provision of innovation incentives without incurring an excessive loss in consumer welfare. Similar tradeoffs are also found in the interface between copyright law and competition law, and to a lesser extent, between trademark law and competition law.
Most of the thorniest issues in the interface between intellectual property laws and competition law arise under patent law. As such, this course will largely focus on the patent competition interface. The course will focus on issues including intellectual property enforcement, tying, unilateral refusal to deal, deceptive conduct in standard-setting organizations, predatory product design, and various kinds of collusive conduct.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Thomas Cheng | thomas.cheng@hku.hk | CCT 611 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Students will acquire a basic understanding of the interface between intellectual property and competition law with materials from the U.S. and the EU.
CLO 2 Students will acquire a basic understanding of the interplay between competition policy and innovation policy.
CLO 3 Students will develop the ability to think critically about competition law cases and about law in general.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/
JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Group class presentation | TBC | 30% | 1, 2, 3 | |
| Research paper | TBC | 70% | 1, 2, 3 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit until is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/