Economics of Innovation (Uneven Years)
“How to arouse innovation in my enterprise?” Many entrepreneurs ask that question. Innovation is the result of human behavior that is both valuable and disturbing in enterprises. It has tremendous individual and social consequences. The objective of this course is NOT to provide management solutions or recipes to entrepreneurs who wonder how to foster innovation. [...]
Moot Court
Students may take part to a Moot Court related to an IP or Competition Law case. These last few years, LLM students have taken part to: EU Law Moot Court; Herbert Smith Freehills Competition Law Moot (King's College); Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot; Europa Moot Court Competition (Kavala) ; Concours Lamy de la concurrence. The participation to [...]
Propriété intellectuelle et technique contractuelle (Course taught in French)
Le cours a pour objet d'étudier les principaux contrats qui se rencontrent dans le vaste champ de la propriété intellectuelle. Dans la première partie du cours seront présentées les trois opérations de base qui transcendent la matière, à savoir la cession, la licence et le règlement des différends (accords de co-existence, transactions...). La licence, instrument d'exploitation [...]
European Law and Technological Innovation
Technological innovation has transformed the human condition significantly over the past fifty years. Having resulted in unprecedented growth and increases in people’s living standards, technology is believed to have had a major impact on individuals and societies alike. It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that the continuous promotion of technological innovation has become [...]
International and Comparative Competition Law
The course focuses on substantive US antitrust law. It seeks to contrast the antitrust case-law of the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) with that of the EU courts. Possible study of Japanese competition law. SCOTUS cases will be selected as reading assignments for each class, and the course will take the form of a back and [...]
Master’s thesis + workshops
The Master’s thesis module covers : The obligation to take part to the LCII workshop series organized on Competition or IP law topics, and the writing of a Master’s thesis. Subject to approval from the LL.M. Director, students may be allowed to substitute the writing of their Master’s thesis for a two-month traineeship or participation to an [...]
WTO Law & Intellectual Property and Competition Issues
This half-day seminar gives a thorough and detailed introduction of trade law and WTO. The programme includes a broad overview of the history of international trade regulation, the tensions affecting the international trading system, the basic principles of international trade law, as well as its main actors and subjects. It offer students an introductory analysis [...]
Unfair Competition Law
This module provides a short, yet intensive introduction into the law against unfair competition in the EU and the USA. As such it provides an overview of the rationale and supplementary role of unfair competition law to intellectual and industrial property law (trademarks, copyright, design and patent law). The seminar comprises lectures, assignments, and a [...]
The Law of Geographical Indications, Quality Labelling and Certification
“In the seminar on the Law of Geographical Indications, Quality Labeling and Certification we examine rules at the crossroads between Intellectual Property, consumer and health protection and market practices / laws against unfair competition. These rules, which have been marked in recent years by a growing regulatory framework at E.U. level, are particularly relevant to [...]
Selected Questions of Private International Law in Relation to Intellectual Property Rights
It is very common that legal questions relating to IP-rights span over several States. A patent owned by a company doing business in Germany may be licensed by its owner to a business incorporated in France. The holder of a copyright may want to stop a competitor from infringing its right in another market. A [...]
Pratique de la marque communautaire (course taught in French)
Domestic trademark laws of EU Member States are now fully harmonized with the Community Trademark Regulation. Yet, the enforcement of Community trademark law does not fully mirror national enforcement practices but is much more demanding as the choice of the relevant forum for challenge impacts all EU countries. The aim of this seminar is to [...]
Patent Law in Practice
In this seminar the major aspects of Belgian and European patent law are covered. Following an introduction to the (international) patent system and the basic requirements for patentability, mainly patent litigation strategies are discussed. Topics include defenses to and remedies for patent infringement, cross-border aspect and specific legal regimes for medicinal product. Special focus is [...]
IP Protection for Biotechnologies and Other Technologies
In this seminar we will take a closer look at how and why biotechnological inventions play not only an important but also somewhat different role than other areas of patent law. The seminar is structured in the following manner: In a first section, the dichotomy invention – discovery is analysed and critically discussed; In a [...]
Introduction to Belgian Competition Law
The role of the national competition authorities and courts in the enforcement of competition law has increased over the last decade. The course provides an overview of the legal sources of competition law and the Belgian competition authority's institutional framework. It also provides a practical insight into how competition law is applied in practice in [...]
The Law and Economics of State Aid and other Anti-Competitive State Interventions
Students must follow module on The Law and Economics of State Aid and other anti-competitive state interventions at the BSC, which encompasses three BSC sessions: 1. Brief historical and economic background 2. The notion of State aid: legal concept v. economic theory 3. State aid administrative procedure 4. Compatibility assessment of State aid: the central [...]
Selected issues in European competition Law (Essay Paper)
This course requires the student to write a research paper of 7,000 words (+/- 1,000 words; including footnotes, but excluding bibliography) on a topical issue of EU competition law, under the supervision of Professor Jean-François BELLIS. The student must suggest a research topic and discuss the relevance of it with Professor BELLIS for validation. During the academic [...]
Advanced EU Competition Law – Private Enforcement
European competition law is governed by complex institutional and procedural mechanisms, which are based on the intervention of specialized administrative authorities and jurisdictions (at the both national and European levels) with different modus operandi. In addition, these organs are in constant motion. The Commission's recent initiatives in the fields of private enforcement, settlements (transactions and [...]
Master’s thesis + workshops
The Master’s thesis module covers : The obligation to take part to 10 workshops organized on competition or IP law topics. The writing of a Master’s thesis (coordination: N. NEYRINCK- 6h). Subject to approval from the LL.M. Director, students may be allowed to substitute the writing of their Master’s thesis by a two-month traineeship.
Economics of Innovation
“How to arouse innovation in my enterprise?” Many entrepreneurs ask that question. Innovation is the result of human behavior that is both valuable and disturbing in enterprises. It has tremendous individual and social consequences. The objective of this course is NOT to provide management solutions or recipes to entrepreneurs who wonder how to foster innovation. […]
Case Studies in EU Competition Law
The course reviews an anthology of Court judgments and Commission decisions covering the full range of EU antitrust and merger control issues: cartels, other horizontal restraints and vertical restraints (Art. 101 TFEU), unilateral abusive conduct (Art. 102 TFEU), mergers and also restraints -other than state aids – involving companies entrusted with so-called services of general […]
Intellectual Property and Competition Law
Intellectual property plays an increasingly important role in today’s economy. As it grows in importance, it poses unique and difficult challenges for the application of traditional competition law principles. This course will explore the tension between the desire to foster vibrant competition on the market that is so central to the competition laws and the [...]
IP Enforcement
IP litigation represents a technical, complex but crucial part of IP protection. Through judicial proceedings, IP holders enforce their right, prevent infringements and collect damages, while, conversely, alleged infringers are offered the opportunity to plead their case. The first part of the course focuses on enforcement issues which arise in respect of all types of [...]
EU Design Law
The course is an introduction to the protections of design, i.e. the appearance of a product. Foremost is the Community design, created by Regulation (EC) 6/2002 (the "Regulation"). The Regulation provides for a new regime that is unitary (having equal effect throughout the EU), two-tier (combining unregistered Community design ("UCD") and registered Community design ("RCD"), [...]
Aspects internationaux de la protection de la propriété intellectuelle (Course taught in French)
La protection de la propriété intellectuelle au niveau international, objet de l'enseignement, repose sur deux pilliers: d'une part, les conventions de Paris et de Berne administrées par l'OMPI, d'autre part, l'Accord sur les aspects des droits de propriété intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce (accord "ADPIC"), conclu dans le cadre de l'Organisation Mondiale du Commerce (OMC). On commencera [...]
European Trademark Law
This course offers a complete teaching of trademark law. Through practical cases studies, students discuss protection requirements and the different administrative steps for the registration of a trademark before the Office for Harmonization of the Internal Market (OHIM). The course studies the prerogatives a trademark offers to its owner. Revocation, invalidity and degeneration are also [...]
Droit d’auteur européen (Course taught in French)
Le droit d'auteur est un droit exclusif de propriété intellectuelle qui a pour objet la protection de toute création de forme, à la condition qu'elle soit originale. Le cours de droit d'auteur a pour objet de présenter l'ensemble de la matière du droit d'auteur, en ce compris le droit d'auteur sur les programmes d'ordinateur et [...]
Droit des aides d’Etat (Course taught in French)
Le cours a pour objet l'étude approfondie du contrôle des aides d'Etat en droit européen de la concurrence (articles 107 et 108 du traité sur le fonctionnement de l'Union européenne - "TFUE"). Le cours comprend cinq parties. La première partie est destinée à replacer les règles sur les aides d'Etat dans le système du TFUE [...]
Aspects économiques du droit de la concurrence (Course taught in French)
A l'heure de l'interdisciplinarité, ce cours offre aux étudiants d'acquérir le bagage économique requis pour comprendre, analyser, puis critiquer la mise en oeuvre du droit de la concurrence. Dans un premier temps, le cours offre une introduction générale à la science économique (théories économiques classiques et néoclassiques, et concepts clefs - monopole, oligopole, défaillance de [...]
Questions spéciales du droit de la concurrence (Course taught in French)
Le cours offre aux étudiants un socle de connaissances approfondies dans l'ensemble des matières du droit européen de la concurrence. La première partie du cours ("partim 1") porte sur le droit antitrust de la concurrence, soit les articles 101 et 102 TFUE. La seconde partie ("partim 2") porte sur le contrôle des concentrations, des questions [...]
Droit européen de la concurrence (Course taught in French)
Le cours offre aux étudiants un socle de connaissances approfondies dans l'ensemble des matières du droit européen de la concurrence. La première partie du cours ("partim 1") porte sur le droit antitrust de la concurrence, soit les articles 101 et 102 TFUE. La seconde partie ("partim 2") porte sur le contrôle des concentrations, des questions [...]