Intellectual Property: Principles and Practice

Intellectual Property: Principles and Practice provides a succinct, principles-based account of all the forms of intellectual property recognised in Australian law: copyright, patents, plant breeder’s rights, trade marks, designs and confidential information. It explains the rationale, key concepts and principles of each form of intellectual property in a style which is readily accessible to broad readership.

Capturing the dynamism of this area of law, this book adopts a contemporary, forward-looking perspective within the context of the international framework of treaties and agreements that underpin the intellectual property system. It covers the numerous recent legislative changes and judicial decisions, as well as considering how intellectual property law is continuing to evolve in response to challenges presented by fourth industrial revolution technologies (such as AI) and business models. The increasingly important topic of Indigenous Knowledge is dealt with in a separate chapter which considers how traditional knowledge and cultural expressions can be appropriately recognised and protected within the intellectual property system. A chapter on Management and Commercialisation provides a practical overview of key issues relating to the management of intellectual property in the context of commercialisation.

Drawing on the authors’ experience in teaching and practising intellectual property law, the book has been designed to actively support and facilitate teaching and learning, particularly in the online environment. To further this objective, each chapter structures the development of the reader’s knowledge of intellectual property concepts and principles by the inclusion of features, such as:

• case studies;
• chapter summaries;
• review questions;
• guides to problem solving;
• tutorial questions and essay questions.

The style and approach adopted by this book make it directly relevant for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying intellectual property law, whether as a stand-alone unit or as a component of a more general property law, business law, technology law or technology commercialization subject.

It will also be a useful resource for legal practitioners, intellectual property professionals (patent attorneys and trade mark attorneys), in-house counsel, and business and management professionals who require a working understanding of the fundamentals of the intellectual property system.