LAWS3338 Introduction to Intellectual Property

The availability of units in Semester 1, 2, etc. was correct at the time of going to press but may be subject to change.

Credit: 6 points Availability: Semester 1 Old unit code: 200.338

Outcomes: Students are able to (1) understand and apply the collection of rights created and protected by laws which are commonly classed as relating to industrial and intellectual property; (2) understand and apply a selection of regimes relating to industrial and intellectual property rights in detail; (3) gain a basic recognition of industrial and intellectual property rights and solve problems relating to the subsistence, ownership, exploitation and infringement of such rights; and (4) explore issues of policy, theory and international obligation in relation to the regulation of intellectual property rights in Australia.

Content: Each intellectual property (IP) regime could easily command its own semester-length study, so this unit can, by necessity, offer only a broad survey of most of those regimes. The unit begins with an overview of all of the Australian IP regimes and the major international treaties that shape IP laws nationally and internationally. It then briefly explores and compares the laws relating to trade secrets and confidential information, patents, plant breeders' rights, designs and copyright.

Assessment: Students are assessed on tutorial attendance and participation (20 per cent), a mid-semester test (30 per cent) and a final examination (50 per cent).

Supplementary assessment is not available in this unit except in the case of a bachelor's pass degree student who has obtained a mark of 45 to 49 and is currently enrolled in this unit, and it is the only remaining unit that the student must pass in order to complete their course.

Unit Co-ordinator(s): Jani McCutcheon

Location: UWA (Crawley)

Mode: on-campus

Unit Rules:

Prerequisites: LAWS1130 Legal Process

Advisable prior study: LAWS2204 Property I and LAWS2205 Property II

Incompatibility: Students who have completed the unit 200.382 Industrial and Intellectual Property 382 up to the year 2000 (inclusive) are not permitted to enrol in this unit.

Contact hours—lectures: 2 hrs per week; tutorials: 1 hr per fortnight

Unit Web Page: http://www.uwa.edu.au/page/103695

Note: Some unit web pages are still under construction and will be available in 2009.

Texts

Van Caenegem, W. et al. Intellectual Property, 2nd ed.: Butterworths 2006

All the relevant statutes and treaties are conveniently located in the Butterworths Intellectual Property Collection 2008.

Assistance with study skills, including English language skills, is available free of charge from Student Services for all enrolled students (see http://www.studysmarter.uwa.edu.au/). Student Services location: Second Floor, South Wing, Guild Village; telephone: 6488 2423.

Books and other material wherever listed may be subject to change. Book lists relating to 'Preliminary Reading', 'Recommended Reading' and 'Textbooks' are, in most cases, available at the University Co-operative Bookshop (from early January) and appropriate administrative offices for students to consult. For first-year units the Bookshop will endeavour to make available photocopies of book lists for individual units. Books marked with an asterisk (*) are available in paperback.

Unit Resources

Unit Coordinator

Peter Sinden