CREATING the Asia Pacific Intellectual Property Law Institute (APIPLI) in 1995 consolidated Murdoch’s position as a major player in the field of law and policy research.

Murdoch has the only law school in Australia with a centre focused on IP law, which has brought benefits such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) designating the university library as the regional depository.

Centre Director Michael Pendleton said that the importance of intellectual property (IP) law was growing with the current information explosion.

“IP law decides who can have exclusive rights over information, and who can access information,” said Professor Pendleton.

“Lawyers and ultimately judges dealing with new problems of balancing restrictions on access to information in fields like the Internet, e-commerce and agricultural biotechnology must reinterpret existing laws, and so this legal field is continually evolving.”

After just five years, APIPLI has become an international focal point for IP research, with well established international links with scholars and the launch of the world’s first digital IP law publication.

Consequently, APIPLI research and publications have been in high demand for a wide range of activities and have resulted in close collaborations with China and other parts of the region.

“We and other scholars produce the material that judges and decision-makers use to make their determinations,” said Professor Pendleton.

“This material can also be used by people to understand this increasingly important avenue of law.”

In particular, the centre has helped countries reach the minimum standards for intellectual property required by the WTO through the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

Connections throughout Asia have also enabled the researchers to become instrumental in helping a series of countries to reach certain standards of IP policy.

This has involved activities such as international audits of agricultural institutes throughout the Asia-Pacific region and more recently, researchers shared some of their specialist knowledge during a Crawford Master Class on IP in Agricultural Biotechnology.

Professor Pendleton said it was vital to maintain the critical mass to build the momentum of the centre’s impact throughout the region.