Professor Graeme Dinwoodie has been named as Professor of Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law at Oxford University. Professor Dinwoodie is currently Professor of Law and Director of the Program in Intellectual Property Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, and he also holds a Chair in Intellectual Property Law at Queen Mary College, University of London. He takes up his new appointment at the University of Oxford in June, and will become a Fellow of St. Peter's College.

Dr. Justine Pila, Interim Director of the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre (OIPRC) said that Professor Dinwoodie's appointment emphasised Oxford's continued commitment to place the international and comparative aspects of intellectual property research at the center of its mission. "Professor Dinwoodie is a leading thinker not only in U.S. intellectual property law, but also in European IP law. His writings on international intellectual property have helped to define that field, and his work in trade mark law places him among the leading interdisciplinary IP scholars as well. Such breadth of perspective is increasingly important in order to fully comprehend the dynamics of the intellectual property system." Graeme Dinwoodie studied law (LLB (Hons)) at the University of Glasgow before completing his LL.M at Harvard Law School, where he was a Kennedy Scholar, and his J.S.D. at Columbia Law School, where he was the Burton Fellow. After practicing with Sullivan & Cromwell, he took up his first academic post at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, before joining Chicago-Kent in 2000. He has also been a visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He has published widely in the fields of trade mark law, copyright law, and design law. His main research interests lie in adapting trade mark law to reflect the increasingly diverse social and commercial functions performed by brands, and in developing the role of international norms and institutions in shaping contemporary intellectual property law. He has been involved in projects on both sides of the Atlantic to articulate principles of private international law applicable in transnational intellectual property disputes, including serving as an Adviser to the recently-concluded American Law Institute Project on Principles Governing Jurisdiction, Choice of Law and Judgments in Transnational Intellectual Property Disputes. Professor Dinwoodie was elected to membership in the American Law Institute in 2003, and in 2008 received the Pattishall Medal for Teaching Excellence in the field of Trademarks and Trade Identity Law - awarded only once very four years - from the International Trademark Association. He has just completed his term as the Chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the Association of American Law Schools.

Intellectual Property Law is already a very popular area among research students in Oxford, and in the BCL and MJur, the leading taught graduate degrees in law. Professor Dinwoodie's appointment will provide the leadership necessary to ensure that Intellectual Property Law flourishes as a key component of Law in Oxford.

Speaking of his new appointment, Professor Dinwoodie said: "In order both to enrich understanding of intellectual property law and to encourage a broader appreciation of how intellectual property contributes to the fabric of law and society, it is important to bring different scholarly communities together and to cross the divide between the professions and the academic community. Oxford's rich array of impressive scholarly communities, and its strong connections to the intellectual property bar, will allow the university to remain at the forefront of teaching and research in the field." Professor Timothy Endicott, Dean of the Law Faculty said: "We are delighted with this election. We aim to make Oxford a leading centre for intellectual property law. The move of the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre into the Faculty is an important element in building interdisciplinary research on intellectual property law and policy. And we are working with the profession, in the first year of the Oxford Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and Practice - a unique collaboration with the Intellectual Property Lawyers' Association. Graeme Dinwoodie's arrival will be a vital step in this wide-ranging enhancement of the University's existing strength in these areas." View the brochure for the Oxford Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and Practice

Link(s)

St. Peter’s College website
Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre
Interested in this subject? View our Intellectual Property page.

published Tuesday 10 March 2009