Units
Intellectual Property Law
Unit code: LWN099
Contact hours:
Credit points: 12
Information about fees and unit costs
This unit includes a study of the concept of Intellectual Property and the principles and policies of intellectual property law. Topics covered include copyright, designs, patents, innovation patents, trade marks, passing off, and breach of confidence.
Availability
| Semester | Available |
|---|---|
| 2013 Semester 1 | Yes |
Sample subject outline - Semester 1 2013
Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.
Rationale
Intellectual property law is of fundamental importance to the knowledge economy, and provides the legal framework for managing the creation and transfer of intangible works. It has become a vital component of legal practice, but also has importance in the development of policy and practices internationally. This unit provides an overview of the key areas of intellectual property law, in order to be able to give you an awareness of the scope of the law, and some of the key issues affecting the operation of the law.
Aims
The aim of this unit is to introduce you to principles of intellectual property law. This unit will include a study of the concepts of intellectual property and the principles and policies of intellectual property law; in particular copyright, designs, trade marks, patents, protection of business reputation including and passing off and breach of confidence.
LWN099 is an introductory intellectual property postgraduate unit. It is a unit that students with little or no knowledge of intellectual property can study to gain a broad understanding of the necessary fundamental principles before undertaking more detailed and specific units that deal with intellectual property in the masters program.
Objectives
At the end of this unit, you will be able to:
(i) Understand of the broad policies and objectives of the statutory and common law regimes protecting intellectual property in Australia.
(ii) Understand, recognise and use the main types of intellectual property in Australia and the key concepts and principles underlying each of the intellectual property regimes.
(iii) Demonstrate an awareness of the international treaty framework of intellectual property law.
(iv) Identify an area of research worthy of critical analysis.
(v) Formulate relevant research questions and hypotheses for discussion, analysis and evaluation.
(vi) Demonstrate the capacity to complete a sizeable piece of independent research work.
(vii) Write a paper that critically analyses an unanswered question or unresolved issue in intellectual property law on a topic that makes a contribution to the body of knowledge.
Content
The content of this unit is as follows:
- Introduction and overview of Intellectual Property law
- Copyright and related rights
- Trade marks
- Patents and related rights
- Designs
- Passing off
Approaches to Teaching and Learning
This unit will be taught across 13 weeks of semester in two-hour lecture classes.
External students will be provided with access to recordings of these lecture classes.
Assessment
Assessment in this unit is both formative and summative.
Formative Assessment
Internal students will be questioned during the lecture classes about your understanding of key principles and your ability to critically assess such principles. Responses to these questions will provide you with immediate feedback on your progress and allow the lecturers to suggest ways in which learning can be improved and focused.
The discussions in lecture classes will also provide all students with the formative feedback you need to guide and focus your preparation for the research paper.
Assessment name:
Research Paper 1
Description:
(4000 words)
Description: You are required to write a research paper on a topic related to the content addressed in the first 5 weeks of classes.
Relates to objectives:
Relates to objectives: This summative assessment item addresses learning outcomes (i) - (vii).
Weight:
50%
Internal or external:
Both
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
end of wk 7
Assessment name:
Research Paper 2
Description:
(4000 words)
Description: You are required to write a research paper on a topic related to the content addressed in the final 7 weeks of classes.
Relates to objectives:
Relates to objectives: This summative assessment item addresses learning outcomes (i) - (vii).
Weight:
50%
Internal or external:
Both
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
end of semester
Academic Honesty
QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.
A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.
Resource materials
Prescribed Text
Davidson, Monotti and Wiseman, Australian Intellectual Property Law, Cambridge University Press (2008)
Recommended references
Risk assessment statement
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.
Last modified: 27-Feb-2013
