D2PIT04 Protection of information in European and international law II

Faculty of Law
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
prof. JUDr. Radim Polčák, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. JUDr. Pavel Koukal, Ph.D.
Department of Civil Law – Faculty of Law
Contact Person: Tereza Buchalová
Prerequisites
This course does not have any prerequisites. General requirement for enrolment to this course is advanced knowledge of legal English incl. specific terminology of industrial property law.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to explain and demonstrate the functioning of the intellectual property law protection of computer programs and discuss the relevant related problems.
Learning outcomes
Upon the completion of this course, students shall be able to:
Understand the essence of copyright and industrial property protection of computer programs;
Analyse international and European legislation on computer programs;
Identify and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the respective regimes of protection
Syllabus
  • Software and computer program as legal asset;
  • Copyright law and the protection of the creative expression of the idea;
  • Patent law and the protection of the technical solution;
  • Protection of the functionality of software;
  • Case law of the CJEU and USA courts relating to the protection of computer programs
Literature
  • Swinson, John, 1991. Copyright or Patent or Both:  An Algorithmic Approach to Computer Software Protection. Harvard Journal of Law & Technology. 1992 1991. Vol. 5, p. 145–214.
  • Pila, Justine; Torremans, Paul, 2016. European Intellectual Property Law. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-872991-4.
  • Ballardini, Rosa Maria. Intellectual Property Protection for Computer Programs: Developments, Challenges, and Pressures for Change. B.m.: Svenska handelshögskolan, 2012, 185 s. ISBN 978-952-232-174-9, https://helda.helsinki.fi/dhanken/handle/10138/35504
  • Shaeffer, John. Software as Text. Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal. 20 February 2017. Vol. 33, no. 3, p. 324–414, http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/chtlj/vol33/iss3/1.
  • WIPO. Model provisions on the protection of computer software. Geneva, 1978, ftp://ftp.wipo.int/pub/library/ebooks/wipopublications/wipo_pub_814(e).pdf.
Teaching methods
individual and group tutoring sessions, individual resolution of specific research tasks, colloquial presentation of research results
Assessment methods
Essay resolving assigned scientific issue (50%), colloquial presentation of results of individual research (50%)
Language of instruction
Czech
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
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