International Intellectual Property Law

William Fisher

Renmin University

November 2015

This series of seven lectures and associated exercises will examine a set of difficult and controversial issues in the field of intellectual-property law. All countries in the world are currently grappling with these issues. Some of their responses have succeeded. However, all countries, including the United States, have made major mistakes. The ambition of these lectures and exercises is to distill from the combination of successes and failures some guidelines for handling these issues in the future.

1. Introduction: Theories of Intellectual Property (Nov. 16, morning)

• Case Study: Ecce Homo

2. Fair Use and Fair Dealing (Nov. 17, afternoon)

• Case Study: The Hope Poster Litigation

3. Traditional Knowledge and Genetic Resources (Nov. 18, morning)

• Case Studies: Wandjina Spirit Images; Rosy Periwinkle Problem

4. Parallel Importation and Differential Pricing (Nov. 20, evening)

• Case Study: Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons

5. Intellectual Property and Business Strategy, Part 1: Offense (Nov. 23, morning)

• Case Study: North Sails (handout)

6. Intellectual Property and Business Strategy, Part 2: Defense (Nov. 24, afternoon)

• Case Study: Calvin Klein v. Warnaco (handout)

7. Intellectual Property and the Global Health Crisis (Nov. 26, afternoon)

• Case Study: Ebola (handout)