Olga Kokoulina

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Dr Olga Kokoulina is a Carlsberg Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow. Her primary research interests lie at the intersection of Law and Technology. Olga holds a PhD degree in Law from the University of Copenhagen, Master of Science degrees from Oxford, and Master of Laws degree from Lund University. Her PhD thesis focused on the issue of patents and standards in the EU and approached the topic from an interdisciplinary perspective. Incorporating the insights of Law and Technology and Law and Economics, the thesis offered a view on the possible rationale and limits of exclusivity embedded in patent rights reading on technical standards. The findings of her research were presented in various venues, including at the International Standardisation Conference held by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, USA) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Workshop held at the House of Commons (UK).

Her postdoctoral research addresses the topic of algorithmic decision-making. While offering an untapped potential to bolster economic efficiency, algorithms are meant to minimize human involvement. However, given the innate attributes of modern algorithms - ongoing alteration, adaptation, and self-improvement – the legal enquiry into the workings of the automated decision-making process highlights the complexity of arriving at a balanced solution. On the one hand, opacity and unpredictability of algorithms calls into question the ability to have recourse to legal remedies in cases of potentially antidiscriminatory decisional outcomes. On the other hand, the limits of transparency and accountability of algorithms are often predicated on the interests and rights of IP holders. While trying to reconcile the rights and interests of concerned parties, the postdoc project explores IP, data protection, human rights, and competition law dimensions of the issue.

Teaching

2014 (Spring term) EU Intellectual Property Law and Policy in Global Context

2014 (Fall term) Law, Science and Technology in the Digital Society

2019 (Spring and Fall terms) European Data Protection Law

2020 (Spring term) European Data Protection Law

2021 (Spring term) European Data Protection Law

Current research

Intellectual Property Rights and Algorithmic Decision-Making

Trade Secrets and Algorithms

Data Protection and Algorithms

Human Rights Dimension of Algorithmic Enforcement

Big Data and Competition law