Class Participation (20%):

Given the unit is taught through series of seminars, it is mandatory that students play active role in steering discussions at all seminars, although under the direction and management of the unit coordinator. For organisational purposes, each student will be placed on-call twice (that is, at two seminars) and each of the two on-call participations will be assessed over 20%. At the end of the semester, the students will have the benefit of having the mark obtained in their better performance recorded for them. Additionally, since students will have two opportunities to participate in in-class assessment, an application for special consideration will not be needed unless a student misses BOTH opportunities, in which case, relevant documentary evidence will need to be provided to the special consideration team.

To effectively prepare for their on-call sessions, students will need to read, understand and be ready to lead discussions on the topics which fall within their allocated weeks. The Reading Guide (RG) will be of significant assistance in this regard -- this contains leading cases (bold and plain text) as well as textbooks and other academic materials (required and recommended) designed to aid students' understanding of core IP principles as applied in practice by the courts. The ability to understand the gravamen of the assigned readings (both principles and judicial application) for each week for which a student is on-call is particularly important as it will ensure in-class deliberations are both quality and constructive.

Please note that being on-call means you can be called upon at any point to answer questions about the assigned reading for a particular week. Therefore, the importance of a student having a prepared note for their on-call weeks cannot be overemphasised. Students will have access to allocated readings prior to seminar 1 but the list of on-call allocations will not be ready until later in week 1, meaning actual on-call participation will begin in week 2. 

This continuous assessment task will engage LO1, LO2 and LO3 (as relevant to assigned material) by requiring that students demonstrate a basic understanding of and rationale for the Australian trade mark and patent law systems. Students are expected to develop skills of oral and written analysis on legal issues (LO7) and be able to comprehend and apply the law relating to trade marks and patents (LO4), including to content-specific legal problems (LO5). This task also requires students to further develop case analysis and statutory interpretation skills as they relate to the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth), Patents Act 1990 (Cth), and the Australian Consumer Law (LO6) as appropriate.

Short Release Mid Semester Assessment (30%):

The midterm assignment will be released Friday 22 March 5pm and is due Monday 25 March 5pm Sydney, Australian time. The word limit is 2,500 words, including footnotes. It must be submitted via Canvas.

This assessment task will be a problem question developed around the various issues involving the Australian trade mark system including both registered trade marks, the law of passing off, and the statutory protection of misleading and deceptive conduct all covered during weeks 1 to 5.

The assessment task will test students’ understanding of the relevant legal principles, case analysis and statutory interpretation in respect of the Australian trade mark system, including registered trade mark, passing off, and misleading and deceptive conducts. Students’ skill relating to the application of legal and judicial principles to hypothetical scenarios will also be assessed. The assignment is expected to enliven LOs 1, 3-7. 

Final Examination (50%):

The final examination will take place during the university formal examination period - the time and venue will be announced in due course. It will comprise one or more questions and may involve a mix of hypothetical problem question(s) and short essay question(s). Students will have 2 hours writing time plus 30 minutes reading time. The examination will be open book. Topics discussed in weeks 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12 are examinable.  

The examination will test students' ability to: answer content-specific legal problems through the provision of appropriate legal advice (LO5); demonstrate an understanding of the Australian patent system and its respective rationales (LO2, LO4) (including within the international patents framework); apply legal rules, construe statutory provisions and analyse relevant case laws vis-a-vis Australian patent system (LO2, LO3, LO6); and finally, acquire communicative skills about IP legal issues (LO7).  

Word limit penalty: A piece of assessment which exceeds the prescribed word limit will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment for every 100 words, or part thereof. The total word count stipulated for the midterm assessments is inclusive of footnotes.  

Use of editors or proof-readers: In completing unsupervised assessments, students may use editors, proof-readers, and automated writing tools (including translation software, grammar checkers, reference generators and artificial intelligence), provided that all use is acknowledged and consistent with University policies and procedures including Academic Integrity Policy. Acknowledgment must be made in writing on the front of the work submitted for assessment, or in an appropriate footnote or other reference, and state the name of the person or software.  

Attendance: All students are required to attend 70% of classes to satisfy the pass requirements for each unit of study. Failure to meet this requirement may result in a student being precluded from sitting the final assessment.  

For units offered in Intensive mode, participation in all scheduled sessions may be expected by a Unit Coordinator in order to satisfy the requirements of the unit.

Special consideration: Successful grants of Special Consideration may involve alternative tasks, as appropriate. 

Assessment requirements to pass a unit of study: A student must make a genuine attempt at all assessment tasks set out in this Unit of Study in order to obtain a Pass mark and grade (or above); otherwise an Absent Fail grade will be recorded as the student’s result for this Unit of Study.