A Quantative Analysis of Australian Intellectual Property Law and Policy-Making Since Federation

Abstract

There have been periodic calls for reform of the administration of IP law and policy-making in Australia, and in particular for the consolidation of responsibility for IP into a single federal government department. This article contributes to the debate by analysing quantitative data on Australian IP law and policy-making since federation. It measures the growth of IP legislation and reviews of IP legislation over the past century, and compares this with the corresponding growth in another body of commercial law and in the economy. The article finds that while IP law is growing exponentially, it is growing more slowly than corporations law. Further, the growth of both bodies of law is dwarfed by the growth of the economy. It seems, therefore, that there is no clear quantitative basis for the previously expressed objections to Australian IP law and policy-making. It follows that justification for reform of the administration of Australian IP law will need to be based on qualitative concerns.

Keywords: IP, policy, Australia, federation, legislation

JEL Classification: K10, K23