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Law: Intellectual Property Law

How to find law reports, journal articles and other sources of legal information

Finding Intellectual Property Law resources at Queen's

IP Law includes content such as: trade marks, copyright, patents, designs, plant variety rights, and confidential information (or trade secrets).

How do you find content for your assignment?

The best place to start is always your module handbook for updated reading recommendations. However finding content independently is an important academic skill for law students. Before you start searching for content, consider what you are looking for.

  • Write down your topic is a few lines and identify keywords. Use these keywords to find books and journal articles
  • An example search could be: "intellectual property" law trade
  • This will search for books and articles in this area.
  • Further refine by adding more specific keywords or filtering by dates.

*Note the use of "double quotation marks" around the two words intellectual property. These two words work together. the double quotation marks eliminate the and inserted by the database and therefore refine the search.

 

Find print and ebooks in this subject area by searching Library Search. Use keywords "intellectual property" law.

 

Key readings

UK textbooks:

  1. Bently, Sherman, Gangjee & Johnson, Intellectual Property Law (6th ed, OUP, 2022)

  2. Aplin & Davis, Intellectual Property Law: Text, Cases, and Materials (4th ed, OUP, 2021)

  3. Brown, Kheria, Cornwell, & Iljadica, Contemporary Intellectual Property (OUP, 6th ed, 2023)

  4. Torremans, Holyoak and Torremans Intellectual Property Law (OUP, 9th ed, 2019)

  5. Karapapa & McDonagh, Intellectual Property Law (OUP, 2019)

 

EU textbooks:

  1. Kur, Dreier & Luginbuehl, European Intellectual Property Law: Text, Cases and Materials (Elgar, 2nd ed, 2019)

  2. Pila & Torremans, European Intellectual Property Law (OUP, 2nd ed, 2019)

 

Browse print collections  in the McClay Library, Floor 2 at the following locations:

  • Common Law - Intellectual Property - KN111
  • EU Law - Intellectual property - KC1016

Use the following databases to search for journal articles. 

 

You many also wish to browse key European Intellectual Property journals:

Handbook of Intellectual Property Research Lenses, Methods, and Perspectives: Follow the Open Access links above the price panel to read online or download.

Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO): Official website. Sections include:

  • Intellectual property: an overview
  • Trade marks
  • Patents
  • Copyright
  • Designs
  • Law and practice
  • IP crime and infringement

European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)

European Patent Office (EPO)

The Copyright Tribunal (formerly Performing Rights Tribunal): Official website. Includes database of decisions and orders from 1958 (when the previous body was known as Performing Rights Tribunal)

Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900) : Free resource ."This is a digital archive of primary sources on copyright from the invention of the printing press (c. 1450) to the Berne Convention (1886) and beyond. The UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded the initial phase (completed in 2008) focusing on key materials from Renaissance Italy (Venice, Rome), France, the German speaking countries, Britain and the United States.
We continue to add new materials. Primary sources from Spain were published in 2012, and the Netherlands followed in 2015. Jewish law sources, edited by Neil Netanel and David Nimmer, are expected to become available in 2016."

The IPKat: Blog "Launched in 2003 as a teaching aid for Intellectual Property Law students in London, the IPKat’s blog has become a popular source of material, comment and amusement for IP owners, practitioners, judges, students and administrators"

Treaties

World Trade Organisation (WTO) TRIPS - Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual property Rights: Understanding TRIPS; Specific Topics and other information from the WTO

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) "the global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information and cooperation". Find the IP laws, treaties and judgements section for

Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) 1952: Open access from UNESCO's official website. Original text with links to related Protocols. Scroll down for lists and notes of reactions of signatories etc

European Patent Convention: The European Patent Convention provides a legal framework for granting Europe-wide patents through an application at the European Patent Office.

Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property: The Paris Convention, adopted in 1883, applies to industrial property in the widest sense, including patents, trademarks, industrial designs, utility models, service marks, trade names, geographical indications and the repression of unfair competition. 

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works: The Berne Convention, adopted in 1886, deals with the protection of works and the rights of their authors. It provides creators such as authors, musicians, poets, painters etc. with the means to control how their works are used, by whom, and on what terms.

WIPO/WTO Dispute Resolution

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) "the global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information and cooperation". Find the IP laws, treaties and judgements section for:

  • WIPO: Alternative Dispute Resolution: "The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center offers time- and cost-efficient alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options, such as mediation, arbitration, expedited arbitration, and expert determination to enable private parties to settle their domestic or cross-border commercial disputes. The WIPO Center is international and specialized in IP and technology disputes. The WIPO Center is also the global leader in the provision of domain name dispute resolution services under the WIPO-designed UDRP"
  • WIPO Lex database: This open access database is organized into three collections, consisting of intellectual property (IP) laws and regulations, WIPO-administered treaties and IP‑related treaties, and IP judgments.

Legislation

For current UK legislation, search the following databases (available at links below and via A-Z databases on Library homepage). You will need to sign in using your Queen's student number and password.

 

Legislation.co.uk is an open access (free) database of legal materials. Remember to check current status noted on each Act.

Case law

BAILII (the British and Irish Legal Information Institute) : currently provides access to the most comprehensive set of British and Irish primary legal materials that are available for free and in one place on the internet. Content includes: British and Irish case law & legislation, European Union case law, Law Commission reports, and other law-related British and Irish material

Find Case Law (National Archives): Launched with an archive of approximately 50,000 judgments dating back to 2003 (provided to TNA by the British and Irish Legal Information Institute [BAILII]), the scope of the new service, known as Find Case Law, currently extends to judgments given in the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, alongside decisions of the Upper Tribunal. TNA plans to work with the Ministry of Justice over time to expand coverage to more courts and tribunals and to increase the volume of historical judgments in the archive.