One of the great unknowns of patent policy is how much infringement goes on, and how much of that infringement leads to enforcement of an informal or formal kind. Our representative survey of over 3700 Australian inventors estimates that 28 per cent of inventions (which were the subject of a...

Without the confidence that patent rights can be enforced quickly and efficiently, when needed, the patent system will not stimulate innovation. For this reason, governments, academics, international institutions and the private sector have poured significant resources into gathering and...

One of the great unknowns of patent policy is how much infringement goes on, and how much of that infringement leads to enforcement of an informal or formal kind. Our representative survey of over 3700 Australian inventors estimates that 28 per cent of inventions (which were the subject of a...

Without the confidence that patent rights can be enforced quickly and efficiently, when needed, the patent system will not stimulate innovation. For this reason, governments, academics, international institutions and the private sector have poured significant resources into gathering and...

National patent laws protect intellectual property rights. However, these rights can only be enforced in the country that granted the patent. Therefore, a patent owner must pursue infringement or revocation proceedings in each country where his patent rights are challenged even if the defendant...

Recent recommended changes to Australia’s patent laws could narrow the scope of patentable inventions. We argue this could have a comparatively bigger impact on female inventors who we find clustered in the life sciences. We examine 309,544 patent applications filed with IP Australia (the...

There is considerable concern in U.S. trademark scholarship that privileging the “likelihood of consumer confusion” test has expanded trademark owners’ monopoly rights beyond traditional limits. An unfortunate consequence of this expansion is said to be a chilling effec t on useful and...

The evolution of the sneaker from sports equipment to high-end fashion, is one of the most significant sartorial transformations in recent history. Expanding demand and competition in the sneaker market (driven by a new interest in fashion by men) has meant designers are seeking more ways to...

The Digital Economy Act 2010 (the Act) was given Royal Assent on April 8th, 2010. The Act regulates digital media and contains many of the suggestions from the Digital Britain Report of June 2009. The Act is controversial for many reasons. First, the lack of debate surrounding the Bill left many...

In Roadshow Films v iiNet the Australian High Court will consider whether an Internet Service Provider (ISP) can be held liable for authorising copyright infringements committed by its subscribers. The case has significant ramifications for the regulation of the internet in Australia and may...