Virtual Museum

In order to improve our collective understanding of intellectual property case law, CIPIL is hoping to gather together at the Centre a collection of artefacts involved in important intellectual property litigation. Where the artefacts are small, we aim to exhibit them in display cases. Where the artefacts are larger, we hope to create an electronic record that would be publicly accessible from our web-site, in a form similar to that of a “virtual tour”. Our conviction is that students, and anyone else interested, would (for example) get a better feel for the Epilady case by seeing Improver and Remington’s different depilatory devices on display, or recorded in action, than simply from reading the dry texts of the law reports; or, for the Premier Brands v Typhoon case by seeing Typhoo’s alongside Typhoon’s.

Practitioners often have access to and retain for some time after litigation just such artefacts, but that frequently they come to be discarded. Would any of you in such a position consider depositing them with us, or, were that not possible, allowing us access to them so that we can create the virtual museum?

Contact: cipil@law.cam.ac.uk

Image Library

Burge v Swarbrick [2007] HCA 17
Images of the JS 9000 yacht supplied by John Swarbrick

Hubbard v Vosper [1972] 2 QB 84
Images courtesy of Senate House Library (University of London)