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Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute

About us

The Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute (QMIPRI)  is an internationally renowned research institution in intellectual property law and related areas of commercial law. 

QMIPRI is part of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London and is based at the postgraduate law centre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London.

The Weston Papers: intellectual property law and the origins of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London

QMIPRI logo

Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute members

QMIPRI members and visiting staff are regular speakers at international conferences and have acted as advisers for many international organisations such as WIPO, UNCTAD, the European Parliament, the European Patent Office and the European Commission as well as for non-governmental organisations.

Research

Members of the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Institute (QMIPRI) contribute to the research profile of the School of Law at Queen Mary University of London. In the latest Research Assessment Exercise (REF 2014) the School of Law is ranked ninth in England, based on 86 per cent of our research activity classed as world-leading (4* the highest score possible) or internationally excellent (3*).

As with other subject areas, we adopt a wide spectrum of approaches to legal research, including doctrinal, theoretical, applied, comparative, historical, sociological, empirical and interdisciplinary perspectives.

PhD programme

We offer supervision in the field of intellectual property for the PhD in Law research degree programme at Queen Mary University of London. We offer a friendly, supportive and cosmopolitan community to undertake a PhD degree that includes researchers from across the world.

QMIPRI staff and phd students at the 2023 QMIPRI conference

Intellectual Property Archive

The Intellectual Property Archive at Queen Mary University of London is one of the finest specialist intellectual property collections in Europe, with significant contributions from the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA).

Teaching

Our members teach on the London and Paris LLM programmes, as well as specialist intellectual property programmes: Certificate in Intellectual Property law, MSc in Intellectual Property Management, LLM in Intellectual Property Law and the Certificate in Trade Mark Law and Practice.

The Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute (QMIPRI)  is an internationally renowned research institution in intellectual property law and related areas of commercial law. 

QMIPRI is part of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London and is based at the postgraduate law centre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London.

Herchel Smith

Dr Herchel Smith's endowments to Queen Mary University of London continue to fund the Herchel Smith Chair in Intellectual Property, a number of student scholarships and the annual Herchel Smith public lecture in intellectual property. Along with CIPA, Dr Herchel Smith was instrumental in the creation of the Intellectual Property Archive at QMUL.

WIPO

Pictured at the WIPO Signing Ceremony: Professor Duncan Matthews (Director of QMIPRI), Professor Spyros Maniatis (former Director of CCLS), Dr Francis Gurry (Director General of WIPO), Dr Karen Lee Rata (Head of Academic Institutions and Executive Programmes, WIPO Academy) and Mohammed Abderraouf Bdioui (Senior Counsellor, WIPO Academy)
Pictured at the WIPO Signing Ceremony: Professor Duncan Matthews (Director of QMIPRI), Professor Spyros Maniatis (former Director of CCLS), Dr Francis Gurry (Director General of WIPO), Dr Karen Lee Rata (Head of Academic Institutions and Executive Programmes, WIPO Academy) and Mohammed Abderraouf Bdioui (Senior Counsellor, WIPO Academy)

In November 2014 Professor Duncan Matthews, on behalf of QMIPRI, and Professor Spyros Maniatis, on behalf of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS), travelled to Geneva to sign a landmark Cooperation Agreement with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Under the terms of the Cooperation Agreement CCLS, through QMIPRI, provides WIPO with legal expertise and contributes to WIPO training activities for the benefit of developing countries. QMIPRI also has Observer status at the WIPO, granted by the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO at the request of the Secretariat. As such, QMIPRI is entitled to attend and make interventions at WIPO meetings.

Alumni

Our Alumni continue to be a valuable part of the QMIPRI community. Read our alumni profiles and find out what made their time at QMIPRI and CCLS so rewarding.

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