Law Commons^™

Blame It On Rio: Biodiscovery, Native Title, And Traditional Knowledge, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

This article examines the legal responses to protect traditional knowledge of biodiversity in the wake of the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity. It considers the relative merits of the inter-locking regimes of contract law, environmental law, intellectual property law, and native title law. Part 1 considers the natural drug discovery industry in Australia. In particular, it looks at the operations of Amrad, Astra Zeneca R & D, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science. This section examines the key features of the draft regulations proposed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) - model contracts, informed consent, …

Franklin Barley: Patent Law And Plant Breeders' Rights, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

No Trespassing, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

Eva Hemmungs Wirten is an associate professor in Library and Information Science at the University College of Boras and Gothenburg University in Sweden. Her work is primarily concerned with the interaction between print culture, globalization, and intellectual property rights. Eva Hemmungs Wirten is not a lawyer by training; instead her background lies in publishing. In her writing, she relies upon an interdisciplinary approach drawing on book history, cultural studies, law, and studies on globalization both in the humanities and social sciences. Her new book called No Trespassing is a fresh and original contribution to the field of intellectual property. It …

The Dead Poets Society: The Copyright Term And The Public Domain, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

In a victory for corporate control of cultural heritage, the Supreme Court of the United States has rejected a constitutional challenge to the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act 1998 (U.S.) by a majority of seven to two. This paper evaluates the litigation in terms of policy debate in a number of discourses - history, intellectual property law, constitutional law and freedom of speech, cultural heritage, economics and competition policy, and international trade. It argues that the extension of the copyright term will inhibit the dissemination of cultural works through the use of new technologies - such as Eric Eldred's …

Albert Namatjira: Copyright Estates And Traditional Knowledge, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

Albert Namatjira was Australia's first Indigenous professional artist. He adapted Western-style painting to express his cultural knowledge of the Arrernte country, for which he was a traditional custodian. In his lifetime, Albert Namatjira achieved great acclaim for his exceptional ability as an artist. However, after his untimely death, he was ignored by the mainstream Australian art world, because of the aesthetic prejudices and social policies of the time. A recent exhibition entitled Seeing the Centre: The art of Albert Namatjira (1902-1959) curated by Alison French has sought to redress this neglect, and provide a retrospective of his work.The exhibition has …

The Attack Of The Clones: Patent Law And Stem Cell Research, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

This article considers the integral role played by patent law in respect of stem cell research. It highlights concerns about commercialization, access to essential medicines and bioethics. The article maintains that there is a fundamental ambiguity in the Patents Act 1990 (Cth) as to whether stem cell research is patentable subject matter. There is a need to revise the legislation in light of the establishment of the National Stem Cell Centre and the passing of the Research Involving Embryos Act 2002 (Cth). The article raises concerns about the strong patent protection secured by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Geron …

Virtual Countries: Internet Domain Names And Geographical Terms, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

Genentech And The Stolen Gene: Patent Law And Pioneer Inventions, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

This paper evaluates the litigation over the biotechnology patent dispute between the University of California and Genentech. First it outlines the scientific work behind the cloning of the human growth hormone, and looks at the patent office, and its treatment of biotechnological inventions. Second, it considers the court room dispute, and the legal case of the University of California and the biotechnology company in this dispute. Finally, it considers the implications of this dispute for policy reform in respect of patent law and biotechnology.

'Information Feudalism: Who Owns The Knowledge Economy. A Book Review' (2003) 21 (1) Prometheus 127-132, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

Back in 1995, Peter Drahos wrote a futuristic article called ‘Information feudalism in the information society’. It took the form of an imagined history of the information society in the year 2015. Drahos provided a pessimistic vision of the future, in which the information age was ruled by the private owners of intellectual property. He ended with the bleak, Hobbesian image:"It is unimaginable that the information society of the 21st century could be like this. And yet if abstract objects fall out of the intellectual commons and are enclosed by private owners, private, arbitrary, unchecked global power will become a …

Beyond Blue Gene: Intellectual Property And Bioinformatics, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer