The course concerns company law, labour law, intellectual property law, monetary and credit law, the law of mortgages and pledges, and insolvency and bankruptcy law.
Topics in company law include different ways of organising economic activity, with the main emphasis on limited liability companies. The following topics will be dealt with: the formation of companies, the different functions and competencies of corporate bodies, the responsibilities of the board of directors, dividend / company distributions, capital reductions/increases and the dissolution of companies.
Topics in labour law will cover individual labour law and key tie-ins with collective labour law.
Individual labour law. The following topics will be dealt with: requirements relating to the recruitment process, the effect of appointments, dismissal with or without notice and the employer’s managerial prerogative.
Collective labour law. The following topics will be dealt with: the right to organise, collective agreements, industrial action / the right to strike / labour peace guarantee.
Topics in intellectual property law include copyright, design right, patent law and trademark and domain name law, with particular emphasis on copyright and trademark and domain name law.
The following topics will be discussed in more detail in copyright: exclusive rights, neighbouring rights, limitations on copyright, transfer of copyright, copyright on the internet and sanctions in the event of copyright infringement
The following topics will be discussed in more detail in trademark law:trademark and business name rights, the functions of trademark and domain name law, the formation of trademarks and business names, the requirement for distinctive features and the risk of confusion, the transfer of trademark and domain name rights, infringements of trademark and domain name rights and and sanctions for breaches of trademark and domain law.
Monetary and credit law concerns rules on monetary claims in the form of compensation claims and credit claims. The following topics will be discussed in more detail: the establishment of monetary claims, transfer of monetary claims, extinguishment of monetary claims and default of payment of monetary claims.
The law of mortgages and pledges covers the rules for personal furnishing of security for physical or legal persons, and the rules for the furnishing of security through the establishment of exclusive rights to specific capital assets (real security).
The following topics will be discussed in more detail: guarantee agreements in general (establishment, maturity, lapse and objections against creditors), contracts of suretyship with financial institutions (parties, establishment of agreements, expiry of suretyships, reduction and lapse of suretyship contracts), establishment of lien, pledgeable assets, legal protection and priority lien, rules on lien during the security period and rules on foreclosure.
Insolvency and bankruptcy law covers rules on the enforcement of claims, debt settlement proceedings and liquidation/bankruptcy.
The following topics will be discussed in more detail: rules concerning the basis for enforcement and attachment in connection with individual debt collection, rules on voluntary and compulsory debt settlement proceedings and rules on insolvency, creditors in insolvency, the debtor’s position, the bodies of the estate, voidance, contractual obligations and rules on the order of priority in connection with liquidation/bankruptcy.