Handbook

 This course provides students with a framework for managing intellectual property through the lifecycle of intangible assets. Taking an innovative ‘legal project management’ approach that simulates contemporary legal practice and draws on methods commonly adopted in MBA degrees, the course examines the lifecycle of copyright works, trademarks, patentable inventions, registrable designs, and confidential information. Through a cradle-to-grave examination of key considerations that arise at various points in the commercialisation and management of intangible assets, students will learn how to obtain and preserve long-term competitive advantage through the use of intellectual property law.

Main topics

Indicative topics to be covered in each part of the eight-week course are as follows:

1.    Intellectual Property and Innovation Identification: tools and a framework for identifying assets that could be candidates for intellectual propertisation; conducting an intellectual property audit; building an innovation culture within a business; devising a strategy for the production and protection of intellectual property assets that aligns with an organisation’s commercial goals; conversations with clients about the development, commercialisation and exploitation of intellectual property. 

2.    Prosecution of Assets: capturing creativity through: the registration of patents, designs and trademarks; copyright subsistence; the identification of confidential information; protection of other types of intellectual/intangible property (eg. plant varieties, circuit layouts, indigenous traditional knowledge, cultural heritage, domain names, and geographical indications).

3.    Intellectual Property Management: developing an intellectual property management framework for an organisation; using technological tools for the monitoring of intellectual property assets; rights management; copyright collecting societies; international considerations; competition law considerations.

4.    Intellectual Property Agreements: due diligence; assignments of Intellectual property; sole ownership and joint ownership; collaborations; outsourcing; licensing and contracts; sub-licenses; implied licenses, parallel importation.

5.    Capital Raising and Structures: companies, joint ventures, franchises, spin offs, and other strategic relationships through which intellectual property assets can be financed and commercialised (eg. grants and IPOs).

6.    Valuation and Taxation: methods for valuing intellectual property assets; accounting practices and financial statements; taxation considerations; the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) and use of intellectual property as collateral.

7.    Intellectual Property Dealings: securitisation of royalty streams; liquidation; mergers & acquisitions; insolvency.

8.    Intellectual Property Enforcement: risk management; intellectual property insurance; identifying infringement; dispute resolution strategy (litigation, mediation, arbitration); letters of demand; unjustified threats; preparing for litigation; breach of contract; customs notices; invalidation of registered intellectual property; international considerations.