University of Cambridge IP expert returns to teach ANU postgraduate elective
Students have been learning intellectual property this semester under ANU Law visiting fellow Dr Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan and senior lecturer Dilan Thampapillai (centre front and back respectively). Photos: Tom Fearon/ANU
An intellectual property (IP) scholar from the University of Cambridge has returned to The Australian National University (ANU) College of Law to teach the subject to postgraduate students.
Dr Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan, who was appointed a visiting fellow at the College in 2018, is a renowned researcher of international and European intellectual property and development issues.
Formerly a legal expert at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich, Germany, Dr Grosse Ruse-Khan is currently co-director of the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law at the University of Cambridge.
Dr Grosse Ruse-Khan said returning to ANU to teach Intellectual Property (LAWS8422) with senior lecturer Dilan Thampapillai has been a “great experience”.
““This is what graduate education is all about; ANU attracts a wide range of scholars and it is wonderful to work with someone of Henning’s standing in the field of IP law.””
“I’ve closely worked with Dilan for some years now at Cambridge and at ANU, and this time we are co-teaching a masters-level course on intellectual property. We combined our respective fields of expertise to offer what I think is a unique comparative law perspective on copyright, trademark and patent protection, as well as the international dimensions of IP,” he said.
ANU Juris Doctor (JD) and Master of Laws (LLM) students in the course explore key policy themes in IP including the globalisation of trade, rise of information technology, scientific revolutions in agriculture, medicine and biotechnology, and the interface between IP and public health.
Dr Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan teaches Intellectual Property (LAWS8422) at ANU. Photo: Tom Fearon/ANU
Classes have facilitated “great discussions” with students, said Dr Grosse Ruse-Khan, adding topics covered included dealing with online platforms in the copyright context, using Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) flexibilities in the context of patents and access to medicines, as well as the scope of property protection for trademarks vis-a-vis tobacco plain packaging.
“It’s been a great time and I hope students enjoyed as much as I did,” he said.
ANU postgraduate law students regularly have the opportunity to learn from visiting experts. In addition to Dr Grosse Ruse-Khan, other visiting fellows teaching at the College this semester include retired High Court Chief Justice The Honourable Robert French AC, who is co-teaching a federal jurisdiction elective with Professor James Stellios FAAL, and international humanitarian law and weapons scholar Dr William Boothby, who is teaching a course on Cyber Warfare Law.
Mr Thampapillai said the College’s international faculty offers students unrivalled access to worldly expertise.
“This is what graduate education is all about; ANU attracts a wide range of scholars and it is wonderful to work with someone of Henning’s standing in the field of IP law.”
“Working with Henning allows us the opportunity to offer an IP course that covers a wide range of law and policy issues. It is great to see students get very involved in high-level discussions of law and policy,” he added.
