Wars of Rights and Wrongs: A glimpse of intellectual property landscape in the Information Age

Speaker:        Poorna Mysoor, LLM (Lon)
                University of Hong Kong

Title:          "Wars of Rights and Wrongs: A glimpse of intellectual
                 property landscape in the Information Age"

Date:           Monday, 15 April 2013

Time:           4:00pm - 5:00pm

Venue:          Lecture Theater F (near lifts 25 & 26), HKUST

Abstract:

The Information Age has brought sweeping changes to the way we deal with 
information, starting from the way we write and store information, to 
collating and communicating it.  While the innovation in hardware and 
software form the pillars of this revolution, it is really the 'ideas' or 
'the product of human mind' that form the bedrock.  The essential focus of 
'protecting' such intellectual creations is exclusivity of commercial 
exploitation.  As the competition for market share in hardware and 
software scales newer heights, there has been a related increase in 
seeking, protecting and enforcing patents.  The content industry too 
grapples with the new medium of expression, distribution and 
communication.  In this presentation I will provide a brief overview of 
the basic forms of intellectual property, namely patents, designs, 
copyright and trademark.  I will then go on to discuss some of the most 
celebrated cases of intellectual property infringement, including Apple 
vs. Samsung and the Pirate Bay, with the view of bringing out the major 
issues posed by the rights regime in the Information Age.  The talk seeks 
to highlight the relevance of intellectual property laws in their present 
shape and form, and whether and to what extent we need to think 
differently.

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Biography:

Poorna Mysoor is a PhD candidate at HKU, Faculty of Law.  Qualified in 
India, England and Hong Kong, Poorna had been in practice of intellectual 
property law for about 10 years in Hong Kong.  In her years in practice, 
she has advised on copyright licenses, patent prosecution and 
anti-counterfeiting strategy in relation to Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific 
region in general.  She has also spent a year as an in-house counsel for a 
biotechnology company, gaining insights into how ideas turn into patents. 
Poorna's PhD research focuses on copyright issues on the Internet.  Her 
paper "Implied Licenses in Copyright Law: Some issues of copyright 
infringement on the Internet" was presented at the 4th Cross Strait 
Copyright Conference held in December 2012.  Poorna is also a member of 
the advisory team of Creative Commons Hong Kong.