Professor
BA, LL.B., LL.M. (Del), PhD (ANU)
Barrister & Solicitor (NZ)
Professor Kamal Puri has established an international reputation in the fields of intellectual property and contracts, including public procurement, by dint of his scholarly publications and extensive contacts with national and international organizations.
His contributions to research and scholarship are demonstrated by his six books and over 50 journal articles published in refereed journals in almost all parts of the world, e.g., UK, U.S., Australia, Japan, France and India.
He has successfully completed numerous research projects at international level at the invitation of UNESCO and WIPO and several other national and regional organizations/institutions, including Oxford and Cambridge universities.
His seminal work in the field of protection of cultural and intellectual property rights of indigenous peoples has helped him to gain an international reputation that has led to numerous funded invitations at international conferences.
In particular, he was commissioned by UNESCO, SPC (Secretariat of the Pacific Communities, Noumea, New Caledonia) and PIFS (Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Suva, Fiji) to draft a model law and guidelines for the legal protection of traditional knowledge and expressions of culture of Pacific Islands’ Peoples. Twenty-six Pacific countries and territories endorsed the model law, drafted by him, on 17 September 2002 at a meeting in Noumea.
Professor Puri has a long and successful career in teaching. His commitment to teaching and learning is confirmed by his Commendations for teaching and learning on four occasions under the University of Queensland’s Excellence in Teaching Awards.
Professor Puri has played significant role in administration and leadership at university level and through his wide contacts developed several useful international links. He has served his law faculty as Deputy Dean, Acting Dean and Head. His emphasis on applying legal rules in the real world has led to his present appointment as the foundation Director of the Intellectual Property Commercialization Unit at the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland Government.
Professor Puri was born in India and after obtaining three university degrees (BA, LLB and LLM), he won a scholarship to study for his doctorate (PhD) at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. He was admitted as a Solicitor and Barrister in the New Zealand High Court in Wellington and was appointed as full Professor of Law at University of Queensland in 1995, which position he now holds at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
Research interests:
- Intellectual Property Law
- Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Expressions of Indigenous Culture
- Contract Law
- Public Procurement Law
Select Publications:
- Accessing Genetic Resources by Japanese private Industry under the Convention on Biological Diversity regime with particular reference to Australia, Monograph published by Institute of Intellectual Property & Japanese Patent Office, 2007 (Japan);
- “Australia’s initiatives to realise the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity” (2006) XXVIII DLR 23 (India)
- “A Comparative Analysis of Ownership of Intellectual Property Issues in Employer-Employee setting” (2006) 13 Intellectual Property Law and Policy Journal 1 (Japan);
- “Indigenous Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights – the interface” in IPR, Communication and the Public Domain (Sage, 2005) 116 (India);
- “The Aboriginal Peoples of Australia” in Intérêt culturel et mondialialisation (L’Harmattan 2004) 249 (France);
- “Biodiversity and Protection of Traditional Knowledge” in Principles of Patent Law (Foundation Press, New York, 2001) by Chisum, Nard, Schwartz, Newman & Kieff, 82 (US);
- "Protection of Expressions of Indigenous Cultures in the Pacific" (1999) XXXIII UNESCO's Copyright Bulletin 6 (France - published in English, French and Spanish);
- “Copyright and Employment” (1996) 27 International Review of Industrial Property and Copyright Law 53 (I.I.C.) (Germany);
- “Cultural Ownership and Intellectual Property Rights Post Mabo: Putting Ideas into Action” (1995) 9 Intellectual Property Journal 293 (Canada);
- "Copyright Protection of Folklore: New Zealand Perspective" Vol. XXII No. 3 UNESCO's Copyright Bulletin 18 (1989) (France - published in English, French and Spanish);
- "Duration of Copyright Protection” [1989] XXIII No 3 UNESCO's Copyright Bulletin 19 (France - published in English, French and Spanish). Also published in "The Term of Copyright Protection - Is it too long in the wake of New Technologies?" (1990) 12 European Intellectual Property Review 12 (UK).
Grants Awarded
- IIP Fellowship: Awarded a coveted fellowship by the Japanese Patent Office and the Intellectual Property Institute, Japan in 2007.
- Hokkaido University Fellowship: Invited to deliver lectures in 2005 under Japan’s 21st Century Center of Excellence Program.
- Waseda University: Invited to lead a Symposium on “Protection of Traditional Knowledge of Ainu People” at Waseda University, Tokyo, 24-26 August 2005.
- WIPO Worldwide Academy and ILO: Since 2004, invited to deliver lectures in Turin, Italy, to the Master of Laws in Intellectual Property program offered under the auspices of the WIPO Worldwide Academy. From this year, appointed as a Visiting Professor by ILO to deliver lectures in Procurement Law in its foundation Masters program in "Public Procurement Management for Sustainable Development."
- Appointment as a member of the Intellectual Property Advisory Group, Queensland Government: Invited by the Director-General of Queensland Government’s Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries in 2004 to join a small group of IP experts to form an Intellectual Property Advisory Group to help and advise QDPI&F on intellectual property issues.
- Appointment as a member of International Commission by Microsoft: Invited in 2004 to serve as a member on a panel of three intellectual property experts to select two best papers on intellectual property law topics that carry a cash prize of 2,500 Euros each.
- Appointment as accredited observer: Awarded an NGO status in 2004 on WIPO’ Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC).
- Oxford University and Cambridge University Lectures: Invited by the Intellectual Property Centre, Oxford University to present a seminar on “Protection of Cultural and Traditional Knowledge of Indigenous Peoples” in January 2000. Again, in December 2001, invited as a “Distinguished Speaker” by to present a keynote address at the Cambridge University.
