Patents and Trade Secrets (LAWS0280)

This module seeks to cover the main aspects of patent law as applied in the UK.

The aim of this module is to provide students with a detailed understanding of patent law and practice in the UK, and also covers select aspects of trade secrecy law where appropriate. The module examines the system for the registration of a UK patent, dealing with issues of procedure, patentability and entitlement as well as infringement, defences and the determination of patent scope. By the end of the module, students will be in a position to critically analyse and interpret all relevant legislation, the relevant case law of the UK courts and the decisions of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office, and academic literature in the field.

Module syllabus 

Principal topics include:

• Patenting Process & Strategy 
• Novelty 
• Inventive Step & Sufficiency 
• Patentable subject matter and exclusions from patentability 
• Construction of the patent, infringement and defences 
• Inventorship, entitlement and ownership 
• Transfer and exploitation of patent rights 

• Confidential Information

Recommended Materials

Module reading lists and other module materials will be provided via online module pages, once students have made their module selections upon enrolment.  However the following will be useful:

• Bently, Sherman, Gangjee and Johnson, Intellectual Property (6th ed, OUP, 2022)

Preliminary Reading

For a very broad overview of the patent system in the UK see: 

• Jacob, Fisher & Chave, Guidebook to Intellectual Property, (7th Edition, Hart, 2022). 

Key information