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Owning Creativity: Issues in Intellectual Property - GENL2323
Blooming Flowers

 
Faculty: Faculty of Law
 
 
School:  Faculty of Law
 
 
Course Outline: See below
 
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Undergraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 6
 
 
EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 3
 
 
Equivalent: GENL2323
 
 
Excluded: LAWS3523
 
 
CSS Contribution Charge:Band 1 (more info)
 
 
Tuition Fee:See Tuition Fee Schedule
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
 
Available for General Education: Yes (more info)
 
 

Description

How do you copyright your novel? Do you own your invention (or does your employer/university)? How do you patent your invention? Is internet file-sharing legal? Is it legal to buy a counterfeit DVD? What about a fake designer handbag? 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. It then discusses hot issues in intellectual property: social pros and commercial cons of fakes and counterfeiting; ownership of the genome and other life forms; pharmaceutical patents and the cost of medicines for developing countries; and non-Western intellectual property traditions/alternatives.

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

Assuming no prior legal knowledge, this course aims to give students a good grounding in intellectual property law, and the social and commercial issues associated with it. The course will provide students with basic skills for evaluating whether fact situations give rise to intellectual property issues, and provide a working knowledge about intellectual property issues.

Specifically the course aims to:

  • introduce the legal context in which intellectual property operates (including a simple introduction to Australian law);
  • provide an overview of intellectual property law and its effects/consequences;
  • introduce the foundational principles governing copyright, trademark, patent and designs law, giving students a basic working knowledge of these areas of law.
By the end of this part of the course, a student should be able to:
  • identify common intellectual property issues,
  • know how to avoid common intellectual property problems, and
  • know when it would be prudent to seek legal advice concerning intellectual property.

Main Topics

Introduction to intellectual property law and other relevant Australian law; Copyright (eg. internet downloading; copyright on social networking sites; protecting indigenous art; pirated music & software); Patents (eg. owning the genome & other life forms; pharmaceutical patents and access to essential medicines); trade marks (eg. issues surrounding fake/counterfeit goods such as designer handbags and baby formula).

Assessment

Seminar presentation in group 30%

Class test 1 (45 minutes) 15%

Class test 2 (45 minutes) 15%

Essay (3,000 words) 40%

Course Texts

The textbook will be Fitzgerald and Elides, Intellectual Property (Thomson Reuters) and a list of other useful readings will be provided in class.

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© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.