Do you own your invention (or does your employer/university)? How do you get a patent? Is it illegal to share an internet meme? How do you copyright your music? Do you still own your photos if you post them on social networking sites?

This course introduces core areas of intellectual property law such as copyright, trademarks, patents and designs law, covering foundational legal principles from a practical perspective.

Commencing with a short overview of how Australian law operates, the course explains intellectual property law from the perspective of someone wanting to use these laws to protect their own creations and/or legally use the creations of others.

Examples used to explain and illustrate how the law operates include: music, remixes and mashups; fashion and counterfeiting; ownership of the genome and personalised medicines; pharmaceutical patents and the cost of medicines for developing countries; gaming and social media; and the use and protection of AI-generated output.

Upon completion of this practical course, students should have a good working knowledge of how to protect their creative output while avoiding infringing intellectual property laws.