ABSTRACT
Intellectual property embraces the law in relation to copyright, trademarks, patents and design. The law concerning patents and designs is relevant to disputes over the right to use specialised construction methods, techniques or designs. Additionally, intellectual property may be regarded as including cognate rights which protect human creativity, in particular the law of confidential information. Intellectual property rights come into play in the execution of construction and engineering projects in multiplex ways. An area in which intellectual property issues commonly arise is in relation to copyright in drawings and specifications, usually where there is disagreement over the entitlement of a person to use, or perhaps reuse, critical documents. Allied to this is the issue of who owns the physical documents produced for the purposes of a construction or engineering project. A further issue is the use of confidential information that is transmitted or created as part of a construction or engineering project.
