I’ve always, sort of, developed an Intellectual Property interest in my undergrad, because it was the main area where my two undergrad degrees combined; Law and Media, so IP sort of crops up when you’re dealing with the two of them at once, and so I kind of developed an interest in it then.
The idea to do the Masters was really because somebody my age going into a specialty area of Law, it’s difficult to break into, and when I saw this course I thought it would be a really good way to distinguish myself from possibly older and more experienced candidates who wouldn’t who wouldn’t have had this opportunity.
With the Masters degree I did, the real world lecturers were really fantastic because the particular degree I did was combined with the World Intellectual Property organisation, we actually had lecturers flying in from Geneva, and flying in from all over the world, as well as Australian professionals to give us lectures on all the various different topics, so it was a great experience, particularly with that course, because there were people flying in from everywhere.
We had people from all kinds of backgrounds, we had scientists, had an IT guy, people who'd never done any sort of legal background, from all over the world who'd never studied in Australia before, it was really open because IP covers all those areas, it's not just a lawyers' practice.
So the calibre of the teaching staff is really heavyweight, it's really good actually, it just has a little bit of credibility behind what they're saying and real experience, so you’re not just listening to academics, you're listening to people who have been in the field for, you know, their entire careers, and they know everything and are really open with what they know and are happy to share it.
I think it's something that's growing in importance, you think of a few years back and people thought it was this obscure, abstract, academic area of Law, but it's sort of becoming more trade-based and it’s becoming more of a foundation in a whole lot of other different areas, so it's sort of being absorbed into all these other areas of Law that nobody really thought about before.
I think QUT did really well in recognising that and putting this Masters into place because alot of places still deal with it as an abstract, sort of a theory, when that’s not what it’s about at all, it's practical.
The University, from how I view it anyway, has a reputation and I've seen it, of coming to terms with things faster than other universities might, of really recognising things that are affecting business and affecting the commercial world and the rest of the world, I suppose, in a way that other universities just don't quite catch up to, and I think that this is a really good example of that because it is one of those areas that’s a little obscure and if you're not paying attention you sort of miss the relevance of it, and QUT pays that attention obviously and sought out this degree and it’s really great that they’ve done that.
PROFESSOR BRIAN FITZGERALD: My name's Brian Fitzgerald and I’m a Professor of Intellectual Property and Innovation Law at QUT.
Intellectual Property research at QUT is influenced, I think, by my own background, but we have up to 20 people working on research here in the IP and Technology Law area at QUT.
What we want to do is look at new technologies, whether that's information technology or biotechnology, but specifically and predominately in the area of internet law and new digital technologies.
So what we've chosen to do and really brand ourselves with is a willingness and an ability to get in and look at digital issues as they relate to the Law.
Look the WIPO Intellectual Property Masters is very unique, I don’t know of any other in the Asia Pacific region, there’s one in Italy, there might be one other somewhere else in the world, but a very unique course and I think we’re uniquely placed not only in Australia but here at QUT to try and make this really a very important place for people to come from the Asia Pacific, and so far that’s what we’re seeing with this course, a great cohort of people.