Intellectual Property Lawyers Directory
Welcome to IntellectualPropertyLawyers.com.au, the complete intellectual property lawyers directory for all of Australia. This directory is broken into a state-by-state basis to help you find an intellectual property lawyer in your nearest capital city.
Intellectual Property law in Australia can be divided into several different areas, but essentially there are industrial properties and copyright laws. Copyright law protects the rights of the owners of creative works and provides the exclusive right to control production, reproduction or adaption of any creative work.
Industrial properties law involves all industrial or commercial intellectual property such as patents or trademarks and their reproduction.
Intellectual lawyers perform dual purposes within this field of law, that is, the establishment of a person's intellectual property or the protection of infringement on a person's intellectual property. The latter involves infringements on trademarks, copyrights or patents along with anti-competitive or restrictive trade practices among others.
Often intellectual lawyers will seek alternative dispute resolution to get the most amicable resolution to in a case of business intellectual property infringement. For an intellectual property lawyer to effectively negotiate, they need to understand both the commercial intent of the parties and the strict legal obligations.
What is Intellectual Property Law?
Intellectual property law is the legal rights and ownership over any intellectual creations and ideas in both artistic and commercial industries. Owners of intellectual property are allowed some exclusive rights to their own intellectual ideas which range from musical scores, literature work, ideas, inventions, designs and phrases.
As a result, an entire law system has been created to protect the rights of the intellectual property owner in the form of intellectual property law. Some of these protections come in the form of trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets and industrial design rights.
Intellectual property law protects the rights of all the above and helps the intellectual property owner to maintain an economic monopoly on their ideas. There are many ways for intellectual property laws to be infringed and broken.
These include the enforcement of patents, trademarks copying or infringement, appeals from the Designs Office, Anti-competitive or restrictive trade practices, Actions for breach of confidence and misuse of trade secrets and Copyright infringement.
Intellectual property lawsuits are generally held in the Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of Victoria and New South Wales, even moving into the High Court of Australia for appeals. However, the majority of cases of intellectual property law violation are conducted through negotiation, normally preferred if dispute is between businesses.
Who Needs Intellectual Property Lawyers?
Intellectual property law is in place to provide exclusive rights to a product and its creator, ranging from inventions to logos to ideas. As a result of effective intellectual property law, the owner of this property will hold full economic ownership of the property and its future placement.
Intellectual property lawyers will assist in either the initial lodging of intellectual property or the protection of the individual's intellectual property from any infringements. Individuals in need of an intellectual property lawyer would be those who:
- Have an original creative work with plan for distribution
- Have created a new design, style, formula invention etc
- Victim of stolen intellectual property
- Being accused of you stealing intellectual property
- Registering any trademarks, copyrights or patents
Intellectual property law is a difficult and complex area of the law, especially in cases with a question of originality and proof. Intellectual property lawyers are often used in negotiations and arbitration between disputing parties over intellectual property and can offer viable options to satisfy either business parties or individuals.