General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6195 / JDOC6195 |
| Course name: | Intellectual Property and Competition in the Digital Economy |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
Technological advances in the online world pose important challenges for legislators, authorities and courts to accomplish the promotion of innovation, efficiency and growth. This course provides an introduction to the most important legal regimes fostering innovation and their relationship to competition. Students will acquire basic knowledge of the evolving EU copyright law rules as well as selected aspects of design and trademark law in view of new technologies (streaming services, AI and metaverse technologies, digital platforms) and will connect these issues to a range of basic controversies relating to the manner in which markets operate and the implications of these regimes for different notions of innovation.
Some course readings and discussions will compare the way in which different markets (consumer goods markets, art markets, etc.) function and will explore topics such as the ongoing shift from the tangible towards an increasingly intangible economy. The problems discussed will be exemplified by cases from European legal practice. Some comparative analysis of the covered materials with US case law offers an opportunity to explore key dimensions of intellectual property law, its relationship to competition and its potential for re-adjustment of pertinent legal rules and their enforcement in a digitalized economy.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Adrian Kuenzler | kuenzler@hku.hk | N/A | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Describe and explain the various intellectual property law regimes and their relation to competition.
CLO 2 Understand the regulatory issues concerning the promotion of innovation.
CLO 3 Apply the knowledge and understanding of regulating innovation to different market settings.
CLO 4 Demonstrate an awareness of the impact of key debates surrounding new digital technologies within the broader economic and socio-cultural context.
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 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class participation | N/A | 20% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Case commentary | TBC | 30% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Take home exam | TBC | 50% | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| *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 unit 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/