Many of the projects in this field are interdisciplinary and consider the broader social impact of rights and obligations of dealing with material protected by intellectual property laws. Isabella Alexander, Michael Fraser, Philip Griffith, Jill McKeough, Natalie Stoianoff and George Tian are pursuing projects in copyright, patents, plant variety rights, trade marks, traditional knowledge, intellectual property enforcement and commercialisation, together with international trade and competition.
Isabella Alexander’s research is in the field of copyright and in particular the history of copyright law. She has published a monograph and articles on aspects of copyright history in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries. Her current research focuses on the history of copyright in maps and engravings.
Michael Fraser’s research is in the sphere of copyright and has focussed on the shortcomings of the legal frameworks and business models for content. He has recently proposed a new social infrastructure for access to content and an open, interoperable, virtual supply chain with automated rights management for granular content. The goal is to sustain creators’ cultural production and to foster a knowledge economy.
Philip Griffith’s research centres on patent law, analysing the elements of patentability and the question of the quality of patents, an issue at the centre of current governmental enquiry in Australia. His interest in Patents, Confidential Information, International Treaty arrangements and the role of intellectual property policy in economic development, has been instrumental in the various projects Philip has been engaged with in Asia for the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), APEC, AusAID, and the Economic and Social Cooperation in Asia Pacific (ESCAP).
Jill McKeough’s research covers a broad area: it spans the innovation and commercialisation of technology, competition law, world trade issues, indigenous and cultural rights and the development of the digital economy, e-commerce and knowledge management. She has been influential in law reform and has published ten books and numerous articles in the area of intellectual property and related fields. Her research is based on an understanding that the role of knowledge and information-based industries is vital to any understanding of consumer welfare and indeed essential to trade and the regulation of our society. Among other things her published work canvasses fundamental aspects of access and equity to digital resources and the fruits of human genome research, privacy, freedom of information and protection of cultural heritage.
Natalie Stoianoff’s current research encompasses a number of areas from the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) in China and the question of the rule of law in emerging economies to the scope of patent protection and its impact in the fields of human rights, indigenous rights and biodiversity exploitation. Recently, she has been investigating the impact of the latest amendments to the Chinese Patent Law devised to deal with developing countries’ access to life-saving medicines.
George Tian’s research focuses on the interrelation between intellectual property (IP) law and competition law and their role in national innovation strategy, and the implications for consumers and investors. One of his current research projects is the examination of the likely effects of the existing Australian legal framework (e.g. Trade Practices Act) and national innovation policy in balancing IP and competition protection issues.
Media and Communications Law Projects:
The media and communications fields provide a breadth of issues that impact on the rights of individuals and the interests of society spanning the regulation of the technology to the issue of control of content. Kim Gould, Lesley Hitchens, Geoffry Holland and Grace Li are engaged in the following projects.
Kim Gould’s research area is media law and more particularly contempt and defamation. She has been examining recent cases on scandalising the court contempt and is currently researching recent cases concerning the statutory qualified privilege defence in the uniform defamation law.
Lesley Hitchens' communications regulation research has a particular emphasis on the relationship between policy principles and regulatory responses. Her current research is focusing on content regulation, especially ethical standards and the place of commercial content, in the media broadband environment.
Geoffry Holland’s research focuses on two distinct areas. One focus has been on child pornography laws and the concepts of “reasonableness” and “proportionality” in relation to prohibited materials. His current project focuses on the impact of the internet and online publications on the role and functioning of the jury.
Francis Johns' research is concerned with how the online platform is going to impact on law; how information is received; and how to package that information better. His analysis of western literature from the 13th century has revealed that the oral medium, as a form of communication, was more trusted than the print medium.
Grace Li’s research is focused on telecommunications regulation, and she has specifically been looking at the following areas: the universal service obligations; the terms and conditions of leasing and licensing; and competition policies of telecom companies. She has also combined her corporate law teaching and research interests by designing a research project to study the corporate governance of telecommunications companies.