Cabinet d'avocats
29 boulevard Raspail, 75007 Paris
tel: (331) 01.45.04.62.52 - fax: (331) 45.44.64.45
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This 30-hour class is dispensed at the Parsons School of Design in Paris in the Design and Management Program.
It is intended to introduced the students to challenge students to reflect upon the relationships between design and law, in philosophical and economic as well as practical terms.
The students will be introduced to legal issues arising in a range of contexts in which designers may be involved: industry, commerce and communications.
In particular, the readings and discussion cover the creation of rights to designs, their protection and exploitation internationally, and the liabilities to which designers are exposed.
In addition, legal issues arising in connection with working as a designer internationally will be treated with a view to equipping students to approach negotiations of employment and licensing contracts.
For each class, students should
choose topics from the list for each session and prepare a written report
(300-500 words) summarizing and evaluating the texts chosen. The reports
will be used as focal points for class presentations and discussions and
will constitute one of the bases of evaluation.
OUTLINE
Session 1 - On the law as design
The law by design:
Natural
Law and Natural Design, by Teresa Mia Bejan
Roman law, Book 1, Chapters 1 Justice
and Law and 2 Natural,
Common, and Civil Law
Les anglo-saxons sont morts, longue vie aux anglo-normands
Liberalism, John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter
V - Applications
Gandhi, A
plea for the severest penalty upon his conviction for sedition
Chinese Communism and the Rule of Law Introduction
to Business Law in China 2008
Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2010 - Liu Xiaobo's declaration in court
The law as art:
La
justice en images I
La
justice en images II
The law in literature:
W. H. Auden, Law
like love
Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's
Travels
Emile Zola, J'accuse
Hermman Melville, Moby Dick, Fast
Fish and Loose Fish
The law as drama:
The
Trial of Socrates
The
O.J. Simpson Trial
The
Bill Clinton Impeachment Trial
Assignment 1:
What does it mean to "design" a law?
Comment the flow
chart of the decision-making process of the European Union.
Session 2 - Introduction to intellectual property
World Intellectual Property Organisation,
What
is intellectual property?
(Gateway setion)
Patents
Utility Models
Industrial designs
Trademarks
Names of geographical origin
Know How
Copyrights
Software
Data bases
Microprocessor designs
Plant varieties
Assignment 2:
For the country of which you are a citizen or a resident, find on the web the laws that protect designs (usually the Patent Law and the Copyright Law). Scan those laws for the word "design" and print out each article of those laws that contains that word. Bring the results to class. Compare the results for your country with the definitions of designs on the WIPO site.
News stories:
Coca Cola
Gallo Wines
Court corks St-Laurent
Session 3 - The economics underlying
the law of intellectual property
Whales
Get Beached, Don't They? An Essay on the Law and Economics of Copyrights
in Music
Balles
neuves, service aux pirates, Novembre 2005.
by Daniel A. Laprès, Lex Electronica, vol.
9, n°3, Été 2004
Web readings:
What
happens when design standards conflict ?
Find the statistics with respect to trade in commercial
services on the site of the World Trade Organization (WTO):
Statistical
Report of the World Trade Organization of 2010
News stories:
Steven Stealberg
My Sweet Lord 1 - 2
Assignment 3:
Identify a debate over the imposition of a standard
to a communications or design process. Point out the underlying economic
issues and the interests and manners of intervention of their promoters.
Sessions 4 and 5 - The meaning and protection of creativity in law
Design
Law
The
overlap between design and copyright law, by Ian McDonald
Where
to draw the copyright/design boundary, by Kumaran & Sagar, Delhi
Why Copyright Law Excludes Systems and
Processes from the Scope of Its Protection, Pamela Samuelson
Goldstein on Copyright: A Realist's Approach to Copyright, J.H. Reichman
Fixation of Derivative Works in a Tangible Medium: Technology Forces a Reexamination, Kelly M. Slavitt
Assignments 4 and 5:
Prepare written reports on each of the following cases identifying the relevant facts, the decisive issues and the legal reasoning. Evaluate the results of each case:
Kieselstein-Cord - Questions - Pages 1 - 2
News stories:
Carol Barnhart - Questions - Pages
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5
John Muller v New York Arrows - Illustration -
1
Darden v Peters
Sarah Lee v Nifty Foods - Illustration -
1
Burrows Giles v Sarony - Illustration
1
Batlin & Son v Snyder
Yves St-Laurent v Ralph Lauren
Xerox v Apple
Session 6 - Procedures for protecting designs
France, Institut National de la Propriété
Industrielle, déposer
une marque
European Union, Directive
98/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998
on the legal protection of designs
Guillaume Montreux, Registered
and unregistered Community designs compared
Assignment 6:
Research what are the procedures for registering
a design in your country. Bring a completed application form with attachments
and quantify the charges. For how long is the registration valid? May it
be renewed? On what conditions?
Session 7 - Introduction to the protection of intellectual property internationally
Researching
Intellectual Property Law in an International Context, by Stefanie
Weigmann
The
Hague régime
Assignment 7:
Ascertain what treaties your country has signed
for the protection of designs. What provisions are there for international
extensions of those registrations? At what cost?
Sessions 8 and 9 - General principles of contract
Woolley - Munple - Marvin - Denney
Lucy - Lefkowitz - Hodge - Konic - Bovard
For
want of a signature, $ 500,000 lost
Session 10 - Agency law
Pro Golf - Reyes - Chester - Wolfe
Kanavos
-
Simmons
- O'Boyle
-
Detroit
Pure Milk
Session 11 - Product Liability
Koperwas I
II - Gowen I
II - Anderson I
- Martin I II
III - Laaperi I
II III
Session 12 - Licensing
Articles 81 and 82 of the consolidated version of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community
From the book of readings: articles on planning
and negotiating international commercial agreements
Session 13 - e-commerce
Prepare case reports on these cases:
Judas
Priest - Affaire Yahoo
- Luxury brands v e-Bay
Assignment 8:
Une société française Fashion Heaven lance une activité d'achat et de vente de vêtements et d'accessoires de grandes marques françaises.
La société s'approvisionne en marchandises dans des solderies à Paris moyennant quoi elle les achète à des prix correspondant à environ 10% du prix de détail original.
Ces marchandises sont authentiques en ce qu'elles sont introduites dans le commerce par les titulaires de marques eux-mêmes. Mais considérant que ce sont des marchandises soldées (fins de séries, marchandises légèrement défectueuses, etc.), elles sont vendues aux soldeurs à des prix extrêmement bas.
La société Fashion Heaven les revend sur e-bay.com et ebay.fr. Pour la promotion des articles offerts sur ebay, le persponnel de la société réalise ses propres photos des produits et, en plus, achète des photos "runway" auprès de sociétés spécialisées. Pour chaque article proposé sur le site d'ebay, elle écrit un texte promotionnel affiché sur ebay dans lequel est mentionnée la marque du produit offert. Les textse vantent la qualité des produits et la renommée de la marque pour mieux vendre les produits. Rien ne transparaît dans les textes sur ebay sur le fait que les produits offerts sont du "second choix".
La société Fashion Heaven réalise des marges très importantes et développe un commerce florissant.
Mais au fil des mois, de plus en plus de produits contrefaits font leur apparition sur ebay jusqu'à en noyer le site d'ebay sans que le consommateur non spécialisé puisse aisément distinguer les produits authentiques des produits contrefaits.
Sous les menaces chaque jour plus graves des titulaires des grandes marques, ebay décide d'interdire toutes les ventes de vêtements de marques par des fournisseurs autres que les titulaires des marques elles-mêmes ou leurs concessionnaires officiels.
Du jour au lendemain, Fashion Heaven est interdite d'accès au site d'ebay et son chiffre d'affaire tombe à zéro.
Est-ce que la société Fashion Heaven
a des recours? Contre qui? Avec quelles chances de succès?
Session 14 - Negotiating international design services and design-related contracts
Web research:
Find and bring to class a draft for at least two of the following types of agreements:
Employment as a designer
Independent contractor providing design services
Design sale
Licensing agreement to designs
Non-disclosure agreement
Confidentialy agreement
Session 15 - Ethics and law in
international business
ADDITIONAL READING
Original sources of law
RECOMMENDED SOURCE BOOKS
Design Law in Europe: An Analysis of the Protection of Artistic, Industrial, and Functional Designs Under Copyright, Design, Unfair Competit (Hardcover) (used from $ 8.40 by Uma Suthersanen
European Design Protection, Commentary To Directive and Regulation (Hardcover)
by Mario Franzosi (Editor) (new from $ 325)
Design Law: Protecting and Exploiting Rights (Paperback) ($ 156)
by Margaret Briffa (Author), Lee Gage (Author)
Design Protection: A Practical Guide to the Law on Plagiarism for Manufacturers and Designers (Hardcover) (sued from $ 7.97)
by Dan Johnston
Copyright for the Nineties, Cases and Materials, Robert A. Gorman, Jane C. Ginsburg, Contemporary Legal Education Series, New York, 1993
Software and Internet Law, Mark A. Lemley, Peter S. Menell, Robert E. Merges, Pamela Samuelson, Aspen Law, New York, 2000
EVALUATION
Cabinet d'avocats
29 boulevard Raspail, 75007 Paris
tel: (331) 01.45.04.62.52 - fax:
(331) 45.44.64.45
