The Jean Monnet Module on European Union Family Law (nEUfam)

The Jean Monnet Module on Sustainability through Intellectual Property Law in EU (SINPL-EU)

SINPL-EU is the first course combining EU Intellectual Property (IP) Law and Sustainability. It is a 30-hours curricular course held at NOVA School of Law in Lisbon, complemented by a 18-hours preparatory course on Foundations of Intellectual Property law and a 10-hours online Writing School component, the latter being open to the students of all the project partner universities.

The need to combine EU Intellectual Property Law and Sustainability comes from the nature and evolution of this legal discipline: the EU is expanding its harmonization of Intellectual Property rules and modernizing them to promote sustainable goals.

EU Intellectual Property Law is becoming a fundamental part of Law School curricula across the EU. However, there is a lack of learning activities on the intersection between Intellectual Property and Sustainability. This is a highly problematic gap, as Intellectual Property Law is central to incentive all industry sectors towards technological and cultural innovation.

SINPL-EU aims to fill this gap. It provides a high-profile learning experience for students passionate about EU law, Intellectual Property law, and Sustainability studies.

The course covers all the main areas of Intellectual Property Law – namely Patents, Trademarks, Copyright, Designs, and Trade Secrets – and explores them through the lens of the promotion of sustainable innovation in the EU internal market. Building a solid background and applying their knowledge to practical cases, students and their professors will jointly advance the discipline of EU Intellectual Property Law, developing academic doctrine and suggesting policy proposals. By doing so, SINPL-EU will significantly support the role of the EU as the first player regulating Intellectual Property Law for a sustainable world.