LAWCOMM 796 : Trade Marks and Related Rights
Law
2024 Semester One (1243) (15 POINTS)
Course Prescription
Course Overview
This course provides a detailed examination of the Australian and New Zealand laws that govern the protection of commercial symbols and indicia. A significant part of the course is devoted to the protection of registered trade marks under the Australian Trade Marks Act 1995 and New Zealand's Trade Marks Act 2002. The course also covers various other methods of protecting unregistered or unregistrable trade marks or commercial symbols and indicia, including the law of passing off, consumer protection legislation, special events legislation, domain name protection and the protection of geographical indications.
Capabilities Developed in this Course
| Capability 1: | People and Place |
| Capability 2: | Sustainability |
| Capability 3: | Knowledge and Practice |
| Capability 4: | Critical Thinking |
| Capability 5: | Solution Seeking |
| Capability 6: | Communication |
| Capability 7: | Collaboration |
| Capability 8: | Ethics and Professionalism |
Learning Outcomes
- Identify and apply rules and principles under New Zealand and Australian case law and statute law that govern the protection of unregistered and unregistrable trade marks (or other commercial symbols) against misuse. (Capability 3.1, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 and 8.1)
- Articulate and apply the legal principles that determine the registrability of signs as trade marks. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1 and 8.1)
- Identify the grounds upon which intellectual property offices and third parties in New Zealand and Australia can object to registration of a trade mark and evaluate how these grounds apply in hypothetical situations. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1 and 8.1)
- Identify, apply and evaluate various mechanisms that can be used to overcome objections to registration. (Capability 3.1, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1 and 8.1)
- Articulate and apply key legal principles and concepts that relate to the enforcement and loss of registered trade mark rights to different factual scenarios in order to reach reasoned solutions and make reasoned recommendations. (Capability 3.1, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 and 8.1)
- Compare and contrast the approaches New Zealand and Australian trade mark law take to key legal issues, and evaluate such approaches in comparison with approaches in other jurisdictions. (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1 and 5.1)
- Demonstrate independent research and analysis by evaluating and effectively communicating solutions and recommendations to authentic trade mark law problems in a substantial piece of legal writing. (Capability 3.1, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 and 8.1)
Assessments
| Assessment Type | Percentage | Classification |
|---|---|---|
| Case report | 10% | Individual Coursework |
| Final assignment | 90% | Individual Coursework |
| Optional synopsis of issues | Individual Coursework | |
| 3 types | 100% |
| Assessment Type | Learning Outcome Addressed | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||||
| Case report | ||||||||||
| Final assignment | ||||||||||
| Optional synopsis of issues | ||||||||||
The "synopsis of issues" is an optional and formative assessment (marked but not weighted towards the final grade, i.e. worth 0%). The synopsis of issues assessment task relates to the final assignment. The final assignment will involve a fact scenario on which students will be asked to give advice. The completion of the synopsis of issues will allow students to obtain feedback before completing the final assignment.
Workload Expectations
This is a 15-point course. There will be around 24 hours of lectures in this course. For this course, you should expect a workload of four to five hours outside of the classroom for each hour spent in class. The guideline for the total workload for this course is 120-150 hours.
Delivery Mode
Campus Experience
Delivery of the course is face-to-face, with a Zoom live stream for those students who are unable to attend in person. Attendance is expected (via Zoom or face-to-face) for all sessions. There will be interactive activities conducted during classes, and students are expected to take part, whether in person or on Zoom. If a student attends on Zoom and there aren't sufficient numbers of Zoom attendees to form a breakout group, it may be necessary for online attendees to take part in exercises without first discussing these with other students.
Learning Resources
Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).
Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.
Student Feedback
At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.
Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.
Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.
Based on feedback for the 2023 version of this course, the text of the final assignment will be provided earlier in the semester than it was available in 2023.
Other Information
Academic Integrity
The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.
Class Representatives
Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.
Inclusive Learning
All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course director, lecturer or tutor.
Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz
Special Circumstances
If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a Student Academic and Support Adviser as soon as possible before the assessment is due.
If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.
This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.
Learning Continuity
In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.
Student Charter and Responsibilities
The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.
Disclaimer
Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.
In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.