Advancements in computer science have made it possible to deploy information technology to address legal problems. Improved legal searches, fraud detection, electronic discovery, digital rights management, and automated takedowns are only the beginning. We are beginning to see natural language processing, machine learning and data mining technologies deployed in contract formation, electronic surveillance, autonomous machines and even decision making. This course examines the basis behind these technologies, deploys them in basic scenarios, studies the reasons for their acceptance or rejection, and analyses them for their benefits, limitations and dangers.

NA

This course will deal with the legal, policy, economic, social and ethical issues arising from the application of biotechnology techniques and the use of their methods and products in various sectors, such as medical, agricultural, etc.

The main focus will be on intellectual property and patent issues, particularly in respect of genetic, medical and pharmaceutical technology which are key sectors in Singapore and other countries. Some specific issues that will be analysed include patentability of biological materials, gene sequences, stem cells, plants, animals, humans, medical treatments, and the most recent issue of the role of intellectual property in the COVID-19 pandemic.

More generally, in an international and comparative perspective, different regulatory systems for research and development using controversial biotechnology techniques, including human genetic modification and cloning, GMOs, CRISPR, etc., will be analysed, also in light of a multidisciplinary approach which will take into account aspects like ethics of interventions on human life, access to genetic resources, sustainability, biodiversity and food sovereignty.

Finally, according to a Socratic model of teaching, specific insights and discussions will take place, with the active participation of the students, regarding the latest developments of bioinformatics and computational experimentation, especially through the most recent advances in big data analysis, machine learning and artificial intelligence (including generative AI). Apart from Singapore law, an analysis of the approaches in Europe, US, China, India, Japan and Australia will be explored.

This course will be of interest to all who wish to gain greater insights into the important and rapidly developing field of biotechnology. Prior knowledge of biology or intellectual property law will be useful but is not necessary, as all students will be introduced to the fundamentals of biology, genetics, intellectual property and patent law.

TBC

This course explores the evolving landscape of Financial Technology (FinTech), navigating global regulatory developments which have evolved alongside the expanding payments and virtual assets markets. It emphasizes the critical role of regulatory compliance, requiring expertise in product characterization under laws like Singapore's Securities and Futures Act, Payment Services Act, and Personal Data Protection Act, as well as similar regulations globally. Students will gain practical skills in advising on FinTech legal matters. Aimed at future FinTech lawyers, the curriculum covers transformative technologies such as Web3, Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs), Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and AI in the FinTech sector.

Tuesdays: 6.30pm to 9.30pm

Individuals today face increasing risks to the privacy and security of their personal information and there are growing concerns over how such information may be used or misused. Many countries have enacted new data privacy laws, or amended their existing laws, in recent years to enhance the protection of individuals’ personal information. While there are often many similarities in the specific requirements of such laws, countries’ objectives and approaches often differ with some focusing primarily on the protection of individual rights and freedoms, others emphasising the role of data in the digital economy and cross-border trade and yet others leveraging their laws to enhance national security and promote national development. Companies operating globally are thus required to navigate an increasingly complex legal environment.

This course will explore the main theories of data privacy as well as a cross-section of national data privacy laws from North America, Europe and Asia. As this area of law continues to face new challenges arising from developments in business and technology, this module will conclude by examining the role of data privacy laws in regulating emerging technologies.

This course introduces students to the exciting world of intellectual property arbitration. Traditionally thought of and taught as distinct areas of law, the overlap between IP rights and recourse to arbitration for the protection of those rights has grown significantly in recent years. This pioneering course is not currently offered in any other leading law school in the world. It is designed for students with little to no knowledge of IP law. It is also designed for students with an interest in arbitration, regardless of the level of their pre-existing knowledge of arbitration.

This course examines interaction between IPRs and competition policy from two broad perspectives: the endogenous operation of competition policy from within IPR frameworks (copyright, designs, trade marks and patents), and the exogenous limitations placed by competition law rules on an IP holder's freedom to exploit his IPRs. Students enrolled in this course are expected to have completed a basic intellectual property course - an understanding of what IPRs protect, the nature of the exclusive rights they confer and how they may be exploited will be presumed.

This course provides a critical introduction to the intersection of intellectual property law and human rights law. It will begin by describing both intellectual property law and human rights law, discussing their development as well as outlining the core theories that justify and inform each area. The course will then proceed by introducing students to various ways through which the relationship between intellectual property and human rights could be conceptualized. As part of these discussions, students will consider which set of rights should take priority in the event of conflict (and on what basis), and whether intellectual property rights should be considered to be human rights. Next, this course will introduce students to a number of specific intersections of intellectual property and human rights, including: intellectual property and freedom of expression, intellectual property and the rights of Indigenous peoples, intellectual property and the right to education, intellectual property and the right to a clean environment (and related rights), intellectual property and the right to health, and intellectual property and the rights of persons with disabilities. In the final seminar, students will critically examine the question of whether and the extent to which human rights law has been successful in reshaping or restraining the application of intellectual property law.

The objective of this course is to enable students specializing in Intellectual Property Law to be conversant with the operation of the major international copyright treaties, and the legal and policy issues underlying topics such as the following: moral rights; performers' rights; exceptions and limitations; and conflicts of law.

The objective of this course is to enable students specializing in Intellectual Property Law to be conversant with the operation of the major international trademark treaties, and the legal and policy issues underlying topics such as the following: unconventional marks; well known trade marks; the trademark issue raised by “plain packaging”; parallel importation; and the protection of Geographical Indications.

This course offers a hands-on introduction to legal data science and aims to improve students' understanding of:
(1) legal issues that involve technology;
(2) the technologies that underlie many legal–tech products; and
(3) how technology can be used in empirical legal research.
This class also provides practice in the logical reasoning skills important to many areas of legal practice and improves students’ abilities to communicate with clients in high-tech industries.

No computer programming experience is required. Class operates in a "flipped" manner with weekly homework and readings, and intensive classroom activities that are designed to help students overcome learning obstacles.

The recent developments in natural language processing (NLP) methods and the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot tools invite us to question their possible use in various domains, including the legal domain. This course aims to introduce participants to the fundamentals and emerging paradigms of text analysis, machine learning and NLP with a focus on the unique interdisciplinary issues that arise in the application of these methods to the analysis of legal textual data. Participants will utilize NLP methods to examine legal textual data with enough theory to help with intuition-building. Basic knowledge of Python programming is expected.