METHODOLOGIES IN LAW

RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES IN LAW Semester 2, 2016 ASSESSMENT TWO — CASE RESEARCH Instructions 1. Mark value. This assignment is worth 15% of your total assessment for this unit. 2. Due date. This assessment is due no later than midnight Wednesday 7 September 2016, unless an extension has been granted to you pursuant to an application for special consideration under the University’s Disruption to Studies Policy. 3. Late assessments. Late assessments will not be accepted (subject to point 2 above) and will accordingly receive a mark of zero. 4. Questions. This assignment comprises 7 Questions of different value. You must answer all Questions. 5. Word limit. The total word limit is 1,000 WORDS, including footnotes (if any). Your word tally must be written on the front of your answer and will be cross-checked against the tally generated by iLEARN. 6. Excess words. There is a double cost of exceeding the word limit. Words in excess of the maximum will not be read and, in addition, any paper that exceeds the limit by more than 10% (ie 100 words) will be penalised by the deduction of 10% ie 1.5 marks/15). 7. Formatting. All answers should be typed, using 1.5 line spacing, with page margins of no less than 3cm on all sides, in 12-point font. Footnotes (if any) should be in 10-point font. 8. Referencing. Materials listed in the unit guide can be referenced using an abbreviated citation (eg Hutchinson, 122–4). All other materials (including statutes and cases) should preferably conform to the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (3rd ed, 2010). (This referencing system will be mandatory from Assignment 3 onward). 9. Bibliography. Do not include a bibliography for this assessment. 10. Planning. Take care to read the questions carefully and answer what is asked. 11. Submission. Your answer must be submitted through the iLEARN site for this unit. Follow the submission guide located under the “Assessment” tab on the unit site. You may make only one submission via iLEARN, so please ensure that the document you submit is your final proofed copy and that no further amendments are needed. 12. Originality. Answers must be the sole, original work of each student. Consequently students are strictly prohibited from consulting each other or any other person in relation to this assignment. 13. Plagiarism. All pieces of assessment submitted electronically will be put through an electronic system for plagiarism checking (Turnitin) and will be retained for future plagiarism checking. 2 ASSESSMENT TWO (15 marks) There are genes found in the human body which, in a mutated form, are linked to increased susceptibility to breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Biomedical companies have isolated DNA and RNA from these genes for the purpose of developing genetic tests for cancer susceptibility. They have also patented their ‘inventions’ in order to exploit the genetic tests commercially for better cancer diagnosis and treatment. These patents have given rise to public controversy. Some people claim that naturally occurring compounds, such as the nucleic acid in human genetic material, are not patentable even when isolated from the cells in which they naturally occur. Legally, the patentability question depends on whether the invention ‘is a manner of manufacture within the meaning of section 6 of the Statute of Monopolies’, pursuant to s 18 of the Patents Act 1990 (Cth). 1. What Australian case at first instance considered the patentability of genetic material in the specific context of genetic tests for breast cancer and ovarian cancer? Give the medium-neutral citation for the case. (1 mark) 2. Did this case uphold the applicant’s claim or dismiss it? In practical terms, did this mean that isolation of human genetic material was or was not patentable, in the opinion of the Court? (2 marks) 3. The above case was appealed. Name the appellate case using the medium neutral citation and three other acceptable citations. (2 marks) 4. Did the court referred to in Q3 uphold the appellant’s claim or dismiss it? In coming to that conclusion, with what decision of the United States Supreme Court did the Australian appellate court disagree? (2 marks) 5. In the case referred to in Q3, what was the principal High Court authority relied on in support of its decision? In that High Court authority, find the page in the Commonwealth Law Reports at which the High Court said “It is a ‘product’ because it consists in an artificially created state of affairs” leading to an economically useful result. (2 marks) 6. The appellant in the case referred to in Q3 sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia. On what date was that application heard, and was leave granted or refused? (2 marks) 7. Suppose you wish to find secondary material from the APAIS database (Australian Public Affairs Information Service) on the patent issues raised in the cases referred to above. Identify TWO different Boolean searches that could be used in the “simple search” function in APAIS. Explain how they differ, and how this is reflected in the search results. (4 marks)