"Whose interest is it anyway?" The Personal Property Securities Act and IP security interests

Key Points:

The wide range of arrangements that could create a security interest under the PPSA, and of IP assets that could be affected, means IP owners and their financiers should be auditing these arrangements now.

Intellectual property owners and those who have security interests in their IP might not understand the full scope of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) ("PPSA") and how it affects them. A recent case is a timely reminder for them to get their house in order.

Security interests, intellectual property, and the PPSA

The interplay of the PPSA and IP is quite complex and beyond the scope of this article. Put briefly, however, the PPSA comes into play for IP owners, licensees and their financiers where a security is granted: