Objectives:
This course will consider policy developments in relation to patents and plant breeder's rights. A candidate who has successfully completed this subject will have obtained:

• An overview of the history and theory of patent law;
• A knowledge of national and international patent practice;
• An understanding of the principles relating to the grant of a valid patent;
• An appreciation of the principles of commercialisation and infringement of a patent;
• An understanding of the practicalities of managing and licensing patent rights;
• A recognition of the policy problems which are developing in relation to particular technologies and industries; and
• An awareness of the underlying scientific issues behind the law.

Content:
This course will consider the application of patent law to new subject matter such as stem cell inventions, genetic sequences, software, electronic commerce and other business methods. It will also examine the legitimate scope of biotechnology patents, the operation of exclusions on patentable subject matter, the implications for bioethics, the relationship between patents and plant breeder's rights, and questions of access to genetic resources. Principal topics include:

• History and development of patent law
• The information function of patent law
• Administration of patents
• Validity of patents, and infringement of patents
• Commercialisation, licensing and assignment of patents
• Competition law and patents
• Computer software, Internet business methods, and bioinformatics
• Methods of medical treatment, and medical diagnostics
• Pharmaceutical drugs
• Plant breeder's rights
• Biotechnology patents, bioethics, and bioprospecting.

Students must rely on the Approved Assessment which will be posted to the course homepage on the ANU Law website, prior to the commencement of the course.

26 Contact Hours (Intensive Delivery)

Introduction to Legal Reasoning and Research; Principles of Intellectual Property Law