Kimberlee Weatherall

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Making Australian research free for everyone to read sounds ideal. But the Chief Scientist’s open‑access plan isn’t risk‑free

The idea is publicly funded Australian research should be free for the public to read when published. But if it means taking money from universities struggling for research funding, that poses risks.
Australia’s Trade Minister Steven Ciobo speaking after a meeting for the Trans Pacific Partnership in Vietnam. AAP

The Trans‑Pacific Partnership is back: experts respond

Many provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership have been suspended after the United States pulled out. But there’s still much to debate about the regional free trade agreement.
The leaked IP chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations reflects a highly prescriptive set of rules that if adopted would prove harmful to Australia. voteprime/Flickr

IP trade negotiations a prescription for harm

Trade Minister Andrew Robb has responded to last week’s leak of the intellectual property chapter negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, arguing Australia won’t agree to anything that would “force…
Classic patenting norms are increasingly being modified for strategic purposes. CoastConFan

The art of war: know your enemy’s patents, and your own

IDEAS AND OWNERSHIP: The concept of protecting ideas and innovation by legal means dates back to antiquity. But many of our existing laws are under strain, their suitability and ultimate purpose called…

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