This is a course for students who have already learned the fundamentals of intellectual property law, and who would like to extend their knowledge and practical skills in this area of law.

Policy: The course provides opportunities to explore some contentious areas of debate and policy development within intellectual property law, such as trade mark counterfeiting and copyright piracy; issues surrounding bio-prospecting and ownership of genetic material; protection of indigenous cultural and intellectual property (‘ICIP’); and the effects of intellectual property laws on access to essential medicines.

Practice: The course also examines practical issues intellectual property lawyers are likely to confront in practice, such as franchising; the interplay of marketing, branding and trade marks; portfolio management; criminal offences; registration practice and strategies; parallel importation; geographical indications. A choice of assessment options allows students to either extend their knowledge in a particular area of interest through a research essay, or develop their practical legal skills by advising hypothetical clients in a series of short problem question exercises known as ‘practice briefs’.

The course provides a solid general knowledge of relevant issues and skills for students wishing to practice in intellectual property law, and a good grounding in intellectual property research for students considering writing a thesis or undertaking postgraduate studies in this area.

Prior to taking this course, students are required to have studied IP in either LAWS3021/JURD7321 Foundations of Intellectual Property Law or LAWS8017/JURD7617 Intellectual Property Law. Students may take LAWS3057/JURD7357 Advanced IP in the same term as either of those courses.

Main Topics

Intellectual Property theory and its practical application
Politics of IP in Australia and internationally
Indigenous cultural and intellectual property (‘ICIP’)
alternatives to contemporary international (TRIPS based) IP standards
Intellectual propertization: How far should the expansion of intellectual property laws go?
Enforcement issues: trade mark counterfeiting and copyright piracy; IP crime.
IP, marketing and branding practice (including character merchandising and personality rights)
IP, bio-prospecting and owning life
IP, patents and access to essential medicines
Interdisciplinary approaches to understanding IP (e.g. marketing, sociological, economics)
Contract law in IP practice; licensing agreements (incl. compulsory licensing and technology transfer), copyright permissions & franchising
IP portfolio management
Trademark registration practice and procedure (incl. registration strategies); overview of patent registration practice and procedure (including drafting/interpreting claims/specifications)
Parallel importation and exhaustion in Australian and international copyright and trademark law
Geographical Indications and related law
IP dispute resolution (incl. mediation, arbitration, and the adoption of integrated IP strategies pre- and post- dispute)