Lecture 4 - Intellectual Property

Question 1

What are IP Rights?

Answer 1

Legal protection of the product of creative intellectual effort. They are property rights that can be owned and provides a competitive advantage by securing a monopoly to the IP. It also provides a mechanism for buying, selling, licensing, commercialising IP and can help promote collaborations

Question 2

What are Patents?

Answer 2

A monopoly granted by the government in exchange for disclosure of a new invention. The inventor gains exclusivity for up to 20 years and the public gains knowledge of the invention

Question 3

What is the purpose of patenting?

Answer 3

1. Protects an invention and how it works
2. Allows you to stake a claim over intellectual territory
3. Prevents others from copying the invention without authorisation
4. Enables ideas to be traded commercially

Question 4

What are the Patent Families?

Answer 4

1. Provisional patent applications
2. International (PCT) patent applications
3. National applications
4. Granted patents

Question 5

What are the requirements for a patent?

Answer 5

NIUR

1. Novel
2. Inventive
3. Useful
4. Reproducible

Question 6

What are the various Patent searching databases?

Answer 6

1. World Intellectual Property Organisation
2. European Patent Office
3. Australian Patent Office
4. US Patent Office
5. SciFinder

Question 7

What is a copyright?

Answer 7

The collection of rights given to the author or other owner of creative works, protecting original expression of ideas but not the ideas themselves. It only protects against copying but does not protect against independent creation of similar expressions.

Question 8

What are the works protected by copyright?

Answer 8

1. Literary works
2. Dramatic works
3. Musical works
4. Artistic works
5. Other subject matters (eg. sound recordings, films, broadcasts, published editions of works)

Question 9

What are the requirements for copyright protection?

Answer 9

1. original work

2. in material form

Question 10

How long does copyright last for?

Answer 10

Life of the author plus 70 years, automatic protection upon creation of the work and it is separate from physical ownership

Question 11

What do copyright exclusive rights include?

Answer 11

1. Reproduction of the work in material form
2. publishing of the work
3. making adaptation
4. performing the work in public
5. communicating the work to the public

Question 12

When does copyright infringement occur?

Answer 12

When a person who is not the copyright owner carry out an act within the exclusive rights of the copyright owner without the owner’s permission

Question 13

When does IP belong to the university?

Answer 13

1. When staff creates the IP in the course of employment with the university
2. When student, honorary appointee or visiting personnel created IP whilst engaged in an activity which is the subject of a specified agreement or if that IP constitutes teaching material

Question 14

What is a “specified agreement”?

Answer 14

An agreement or deed between the University and any party which relates to the ownership or use of IP that may arise out of an activity, including research, which is identified in the agreement or deed

Question 15

What are the allocation of returns?

Answer 15

University = 20%
Faculty = 40% 
Creators = 40%