This class exists in these courses :
• Faculté de Droit Lille - Master 2 DIE Droits de l'Homme Sécurité et Développement - S1 - 3 ECTS

Prerequisites

The course is a basic course on competition and intellectual property. Knowledge of the basic concepts of competition law (such as basic notions, basic EU law provisions, knowledge of market definition etc.) would be beneficial to follow the course, especially at the beginning. This being said, a "refreshment" on basic notions of competition law will also be provided in the first part of the course.

Learning outcomes

The Course is aimed at providing students with the basic concepts related to the interaction between competition law and IP law, as well as providing an outline of the main jurisprudence on the subject.

- identify the main issues related to the interaction between intellectual property rigths and competition law

- know the most relevant case law of the EU courts on the topic

Course description

- Introduction: the interface between competition policy and intellectual property rights, basic competition law notions

- Application of Article 101 TFEU to agreements related to intellectual property rights

- Application of Article 102 TFEU and intellectual property rights

- Merger control and intellectual property rights

- State aid and intellectual property rights

Class type

Class structure

The evaluation method is a mix of continuous assessment (general active participation during the lectures + students will be asked to prepare a presentation on a topic or on a judgement), a moot case where students will be assigned a role in a hypothetical case, and a final oral exam. A written assignement (likely to be towards half of the course) might also be required.

Teaching methods

Assessment

Examen : coeff. 1

Recommended reading

• 1. What do we talk about when we talk about when we talk about business and human rights?||
  

  
  
  • Watch “The Corporation”, Documentary 2003
  
  
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpQYsk-8dWg
  
  
  
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  2. TNCs in international law||
  
  
  
  • Grietje Baars, ‘From the Dutch East India Company to the Corporate Bill of Rights: Corporations and International Law’, in Political Economy and Law: A Handbook of Contemporary Practice, Research and Theory, edited by U. Mattei and J. Haskell, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar 2015. 17pgs.
  
  
  
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  3. TNCs in the global political economy||
  
  
  
  • Grazia Ietto-Gillies, Transnational Corporations and International Production: Concepts, Theories and Effects (3rd edition, 2019), chapter 1, p. 8-35.
  
  
  
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  4. A history of legal strategies to hold business accountable – taking stock||
  
  
  
  • Florian Wettstein, The history of ‘business and human rights’ and its relationship with corporate social responsibility, in Surya Deva & David Birchall (eds.) - Research Handbook on Human Rights and Business (Edward Elgar Publishers, 2020), p. 23-45.
  
  
  • Beth Stephens, The rise and fall of the Alien Tort Statute, in Surya Deva & David Birchall (eds.) - Research Handbook on Human Rights and Business (Edward Elgar Publishers, 2020), p. 46-62.
  
  
  
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  5. Developing standards: the UN||
  
  
  
  • UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, 2011.
  
  
  • John Gerard Ruggie, The social construction of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, in Surya Deva & David Birchall (eds.) - Research Handbook on Human Rights and Business (Edward Elgar Publishers, 2020), p. 63-86.
  
  
  
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  6. Developing standards: the OECD||
  
  
  
  • OECD Guidelines for Multinational Corporations (2011)
  
  
  
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  7. Is an international treaty the answer?||
  
  
  
  • General resources at: https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/big-issues/binding-treaty/
  
  
  
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  8. Changing the game: mandatory due diligence||
  
  
  
  • https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/wg-business/mandatory-human-rights-due-diligence-mhrdd
  
  
  • https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/big-issues/mandatory-due-diligence/
  
  
  
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  9. Examining the distributional consequences of mandatory due diligence||
  
  
  
  • http://mneguidelines.oecd.org/duediligence/
  
  
  
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  10. Risk analysis as the future of human rights||
  
  
  
  • https://www.business-humanrights.org/de/schwerpunkt-themen/un-leitprinzipien/human-rights-due-diligence-impact-assessment/
  
  
  
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  11. Reforming corporate law. Toward stakeholder capitalism?||
  
  
  
  • https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2019/02/11/towards-accountable-capitalism-remaking-corporate-law-through-stakeholder-governance/
  
  
  
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  12. Taking stock – business and human rights in a changing world||
  
  
  
  • Readings to be assigned.
  
  

Internet resources