School: Business and Law

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Intellectual Property Law
  • Unit Code

    LAW2106
  • Year

    2025
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    6
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Ms Clare Jing Ni TAI

Description

Intellectual property law is the overarching term used to describe the legal rights and responsibilities of inventors and users of intangible goods. This unit aims to introduce students to various protections available for creators of innovative and creative works. With pervasive technological development, these rights become susceptible to violation. Besides being introduced to the protections, students will explore how the law balances these rights against the need for the greater good of society. This introductory unit may inspire students to pursue further studies or practice in any selected areas of intellectual property rights.

Non Standard Timetable Requirements

This unit may be offered in non-standard timetable.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must pass LAW1116 for V72, Y11, W28, K30, W83, and Y66

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Interpret Intellectual Property law to provide advice to business stakeholders.
  2. Identify relevant Intellectual Property Protections to back business decisions with minimal financial implications.
  3. Think creatively to provide intellectual property law solutions for a given business challenge.
  4. Formulate solutions for Intellectual Property Law challenges.

Unit Content

  1. An introduction to Australian intellectual property law.
  2. Copyright including the nature of the right (parts III and IV), exploitation, infringement, defences and remedies.
  3. Copyright protection for computer programs including parallel importation and integrated circuits.
  4. Designs.
  5. Establishing intellectual property civil liability, jurisdiction issues, and the available remedies.
  6. Patents including the requirements for patentability, the application process, the differences between a standard and an innovation patent, infringement and remedies.
  7. The concept of rights in information including establishing an action for breach of confidence and the available remedies and defences.
  8. The international dimension to intellectual property including that mandated by the WTO - the TRIPS Agreement.
  9. The misappropriation of business reputation including passing off and misleading and deceptive conduct.
  10. Trade marks including the requirements for registration, the process of registration, infringement and remedies.

Learning Experience

ON-CAMPUS

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 213 x 2 hour lectureNot OfferedNot Offered
Semester 213 x 1 hour tutorialNot OfferedNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

ONLINE

Students will engage in learning experiences via ECU’s LMS as well as additional ECU learning technologies

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
ExerciseProblem Based Test20%
Case StudyCase Study30%
ExaminationFinal Examination50%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
ExerciseProblem Based Test20%
Case StudyCase Study30%
ExaminationFinal Examination50%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

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