What do the Mona Lisa, a Lego brick, and the Elstar Apple have in common?

The project A History of Intellectual Property in 50 Objects aims at highlighting a wide variety of objects that demonstrate the importance of intellectual property. These objects—from celadon pottery and medieval maps of Rome, through the Singer sewing machine, the light bulb, the film projector, and the Barbie doll to the Bitcoin—show us how IP has developed and worked within human history, and shows its influence on a range of historical moments, social movements, and world affairs.

The project is finalized to the publication of a book, co-edited by CIPPM researcher Claudy Op den Kamp and Dean of Swinburne Law School Dan Hunter. The book will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2019.

The book will be a crossover between an academic publication and a richly illustrated coffee table book. The rights clearance process has been generously funded by both Swinburne University of Technology and Bournemouth University.

The book brings together a wide variety of noted scholars from across the world and across a range of disciplines, including 4 CIPPM researchers: Maurizio Borghi (Piano Player Roll), Dinusha Mendis (3D Printer), Claudy Op den Kamp (Paper Print), and Melanie Brown (Oral Contraceptive Pill).