Universitat Internacional de Catalunya

Commercial Law 1

Commercial Law 1
6
10031
3
First semester
OB
Main language of instruction: Spanish

Other languages of instruction: Catalan

Teaching staff


Dr. VIDAL-QUADRAS TRIAS DE BES, Miguel - mvidalquadras@uic.es

Introduction

In the event that the health authorities announce a new period of confinement due to the evolution of the health crisis caused by COVID-19, the teaching staff will promptly communicate how this may effect the teaching methodologies and activities as well as the assessment.


This subject includes an introduction to the basic concepts of commercial law and comprises lectures on the concept of entrepreneur and enterprise, competition law and intellectual property.

Pre-course requirements

There is no prerequisites to take this subject, although a good knowledge on EU and constitutional law and civil contract law is recommended.

Objectives

This subject should allow the student to know basic concepts of commercial law as a law branch. Esta asignatura ha de permitir al alumno conocer los elementos básicos del derecho mercantil como rama del derecho. In particular, it should let know the correct application of the different laws that converge in the main conflicts of private law (including consumer laws). As for the right of competition, at the end of the the quarter, students should be able to master the basic principles of this legislation and to detect risks that can pose major commercial operations. Finally, this course is to provide students with the tools necessary to solve major disputes that appear in the field of industrial property rights, mainly in the area of registration of the relevant IP titles and infringement by third parties of the rights that have been obtained.

Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme

  • 11 - To acquire skills for autonomous learning
  • 14 - To be aware of the importance of the Law as a regulatory system for social relationships
  • 17 - To understand and have knowledge of public and private institutional principles in their origin and as a whole
  • 18 - To understand the different ways of creating Law within its historical evolution as well as its current state
  • 19 - To develop the ability to write legal texts
  • 21 - To develop the ability to create and structure regulations
  • 22 - To be able to identify and interpret documentation normally used in legal and negotiating settings
  • 23 - To identify the state, doctrinal and legal framework of a complex legal issue
  • 24 - To acquire the skills to resolve problems and make decisions using relevant information and by applying correct methods while placing the issue within a legal system context
  • 29 - To be able to gather and interpret economic documentation
  • 30 - To master computer techniques for obtaining legal information (legal databases, jurisprudence, and bibliography)

Learning outcomes of the subject

1. To know and understand the introductory concepts of Trade Law

2. To be able to understand the general rules of competition law

3. To be able to distinguish, identify and know the main concepts of Intellectual Property Law.

4. To be able to work autonomously and to plan and organise his/her learning

5. To develop legal communication skills: writing legal briefs and legal arguments

6. To have gained skills in the resolution of legal conflicts of commercial nature

7. To be able to interpret economic documentation and the usual documentation in commercial traffic

8. To develop skills in the drafting of contracts and business documents

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator

Syllabus

This subject is divided into three main blocks:

BLOCK A. COMMERCIAL LAW. MARKET, ENTREPRENEUR AND CONSUMER: The general concepts of commercial law (Lessons 1 to 3), where we will pay special attention to the study of the development of the mercantil law and how national, EU and international law interact as well as the Civl Code, the Commercial Code and special laws.  We will analyse the concept of market as the object of the regulation of commercial law and the entrepreneur and consumer as the subject of that branch of law.

BLOCK B. MARKET PROTECTION. ANTITRUST LAW AND UNFAIR COMPETITION (Lessons 4 and 5), we will revise the main regulations affecting this branch of law, in what affects the control of the proper functioning of the market, by the public institutions (antitrust) in the one hand and the protection of competitors and consuemrs (unfair competition and publicity). Introduction to intellectual property and copyright law.

BLOCK C. EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS ON DISTINCTIVE SIGNS, INVENTIONS AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS (Lessons 6 y 7), we will revise the different intellectual property rights on distinctive signs, inventions and designs.

 

WEBSITES OF INTEREST

Comisión Nacional den los Mercados y de la Competencia (CNMC)

Comissió Europea - Competència http://ec.europa.eu/competition/index_en.html

Agència Catalana del Consum

EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)

Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas (OEPM)

Organització Mundial de la Propietat Intel·lectual (OMPI)

Oficina Europea de Patents (EPO)



  1. Origin, concept and evolution of commercial law
  2. Sources of commercial law
  3. Market and commercial law

  1. The entrepreneur or trader
  2. The enterprise. The personal elements
  3. The enterprise. Immaterial elements and enterprise as an object of economics

  1. Principle of transparency. Information and transparency. Commercial registries
  2. Principle of consumer protection
  3. Information society and e-commerce

  1. The principle of free competition and antitrust law. EU and Spanish systems
  2. Collusive agreements between enterprises. Vertical and horizontal agreements

  3. Abuse of dominant position and other competition infringements. Organisms and procedures


  1. Principle of fairness in business. Consumer protection
  2. The general clause and the unfair practices. Prodecural aspects

  1. Introduction to exclusivity rights. Concept and function of the right of trademark
  2. Prerequists and trademark prosecution
  3. Content of the trademark right. Legal actions

  1. Protection of inventions. Patent right, ownership, prerequisites and registry
  2. Patent right content. Nullity and expiry. Utility models
  3. Industrial design and its legal protection

Teaching and learning activities

In blended



Written tasks for continuous evaluation (45):

Inter-evaluation tests (30). These will take place on Monday 19 October, 16 November and 14 December and will include the subject matter covered in the previous sessions. The tests will be online and will consist of the resolution of 15 multiple-choice questions. The first 20 minutes of the session will be used for this purpose, between 8:10 and 8:30 am.

Resolution of a practical case (15). Each student will be assigned a mandatory case study that will have to be solved individually and delivered by email the day before the session in which the case study will be solved. The cases will be uploaded to the website of the course at least one week in advance.

Oral tests for continuous assessment (20):

Participation in class. The participation and the contribution of proposals based on the previous study in the resolution of the practical cases will be positively evaluated. At the beginning of each session, the subject developed in the previous session will be reviewed, there will be random questions to the students and the answer will be taken into account in the assessment of this section.

Final written exam (25):

A final written exam consisting of the resolution of a practical case and a thematic question selected from the headings of the course. It will be necessary to pass the exam for the subject to be approved.

Class attendance (10):

There will be control of class attendance, which will be scored. The student's absence will not be evaluated negatively but this evaluation section will be reduced from the third unjustified absence.


[In the second call, the continuous evaluation will only be taken into account if it has been passed. If it has not been passed it will not be taken into consideration]

TRAINING ACTIVITYCOMPETENCES
Classroom activities in order to follow up on students (both individual and in a group)
21 22 23 24 29
Student independent study
11 17 18 21 24 29 30
Individual and group projects
19 21 22 23 24
Presenting concepts and their practical application in the classroom
14 17 18

Evaluation systems and criteria

In blended



Written tasks for continuous evaluation (45):

Inter-evaluation tests (30). These will take place on Monday 19 October, 16 November and 14 December and will include the subject matter covered in the previous sessions. The tests will be online and will consist of the resolution of 15 multiple-choice questions. The first 20 minutes of the session will be used for this purpose, between 8:10 and 8:30 am.

Resolution of a practical case (15). Each student will be assigned a mandatory case study that will have to be solved individually and delivered by email the day before the session in which the case study will be solved. The cases will be uploaded to the website of the course at least one week in advance.

Oral tests for continuous assessment (20):

Participation in class. The participation and the contribution of proposals based on the previous study in the resolution of the practical cases will be positively evaluated. At the beginning of each session, the subject developed in the previous session will be reviewed, there will be random questions to the students and the answer will be taken into account in the assessment of this section.

Final written exam (25):

A final written exam consisting of the resolution of a practical case and a thematic question selected from the headings of the course. It will be necessary to pass the exam for the subject to be approved.

Class attendance (10):

There will be control of class attendance, which will be scored. The student's absence will not be evaluated negatively but this evaluation section will be reduced from the second unjustified absence.


[In the second call, the continuous evaluation will only be taken into account if it has been passed. If it has not been passed it will not be taken into consideration]

Bibliography and resources

The materials that we will use can be accessed through the webpage.

It is necessary that the legal texts that will beanalysed at every moment are available to the student at the lecture room.

Reference textbook:

  • Alberto BERCOVITZ RODRÍGUEZ-CANO, Apuntes de Derecho Mercantil, last edition, Aranzadi, Navarra

 Other textbooks:

  • Manuel BROSETA PONT, Manual de Derecho Mercantil, last edition, Tecnos, Madrid
  • Fernando SANCHEZ CALERO, Instituciones de Derecho Mercantil, last edition, Editoriales de Derecho Reunidas, Madrid
  • Rodrigo URÍA, Lecciones de Derecho Mercantil, last edition, Civitas, Madrid
  • Francesc VICENT CHULIA, Compendio Crítico de Derecho Mercantil, last edition, Editorial Bosch, Barcelona
The regulations may be consulted at Internet and through databases. Optional collection of regulations: Código de Comercio y otras normas mercantiles, Aranzadi, last edition
Print version