Intellectual Property Law
Digital music and film being distributed more easily. Poor countries wanting access to patented inventions. Businesses exploiting the goodwill of famous brands.
Intellectual property law is a system of laws protecting innovation and creativity through, for example, copyright law, patent law, and trademark law. The interplay between legislation and social development is the focus of research in this field. In today's information society, the protection of intellectual property is becoming increasingly important to the economy, as well as to widespread access to information and important technology. New demands allow for new interpretations and legal solutions. Music, for example, is now protected regardless of the medium.
Research at the Department of Law has had a strong position in the field for a long time, and includes studies of the formulation and effects of this legislation. How long terms of protection are relevant? Can the growing and increasingly overlapping legislation become more effective? It is also interesting to analyse how the laws balance exclusivity against competition, and private against public interests, for example, when it comes to medicine or green technology that can reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in developing countries.
A particular strength is the Institute of Intellectual Property Law and Marketing Law, which is located at the department and gathers the country's researchers and interest groups in the field of intellectual property law. The University's researchers also contribute to many government inquiries relating to this field, and provide guidance in important court cases. Sources of external funding for the research include the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Central Bank's Jubilee Fund.
Web editor:
Paul Parker
Last updated:
November 23, 2011
Source: Communications Office
