This course aims at demonstrating the impact of law on business and society. It is designed for students who have already gained some experience (fourth semester) so that they are able to develop a more comprehensive view over their previous courses in business and economics (and the legal course Governance and Legal Environment). To this end, specific areas of law are presented to make students understand the effects of legal regulation on individuals, businesses and society as a whole. 

This will include tax law (and the impact of taxation on business, public finance and society), the law of intellectual property (the concept of intellectual property rights and their protection) and the legal regulation of competition (regulatory rules and their economic effects). 

All content will primarily be based on relevant international legal standards and concepts or, where useful, on a comparison of national legal systems. 

Topics covered:

• Intellectual Property Rights (copyright, patents, trademarks)
• Unfair Competition Law
• Competition or Antitrust Law (anti-competitive agreements, abuse of a dominant position, merger control)
   
• Policy Design of Tax Systems 
• Income Tax
• Corporation Tax / Business Taxation
• Tax Structuring and Its Limits 
• Value Added Tax (VAT)
• Principles of International Tax

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to

• understand basic concepts of intellectual property rights
• understand the purpose and effects of competition law
• understand design concepts of important types of taxes 
• understand the functions of tax as both a cost for taxpayers / business and a duty against society 
• understand the principles for the taxation of international businesses.

Attendance is required for at least 70% of the lectures. Students are expected to actively participate in the live classes.

Classes will be held by means of interactive in-person lectures at the times provided in the Information Sheet and the Syllabus. Students are expected to actively participate in the lectures.

Please note for part 1 of the course, as can be seen on MyLearn, the content of the first part of this course will be taught by means of Lecturecasts provided on learn@wu prior to the live Q&A sessions. Students are strongly recommended to watch the Lecturecasts before the live Q&A sessions in order to be able to participate in the course.

Assessment is based on two exams: a midterm exam covering the contents of the first part of the course (1/3 of maximum points) and a final exam covering the contents of the second part of the course (2/3 of maximum points).

Grading scale (in % of maximum points):

Excellent (1): 87.5% - 100% 
Good (2): 75% - 87.5% 
Satisfactory (3): 62.5% - 75%
Sufficient (4): 50% - 62.5%
Fail (5): < 50%

The exams will be held online via the learn@WU platform. A prerequisite for participation in the exams is that the students have the necessary technical infrastructure, consisting of a computer with camera and microphone and the latest version of Google Chrome. Please make sure you fulfill the necessary criteria in order to enable a smooth examination process. Please use the following link for all information concerning online examination.

For information on the consequences of cheating, refer to the website of the examinations office.

Please log in with your WU account to use all functionalities of read!t. For off-campus access to our licensed electronic resources, remember to activate your VPN connection connection. In case you encounter any technical problems or have questions regarding read!t, please feel free to contact the library at readinglists@wu.ac.at.