Matthew Rimmer

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Dr Matthew Rimmer is a Professor in Intellectual Property and Innovation Law at the Faculty of Business and Law, at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). He has published widely on copyright law and information technology, patent law and biotechnology, access to medicines, plain packaging of tobacco products, intellectual property and climate change, Indigenous Intellectual Property, intellectual property and trade, and 3D printing regulation. He is undertaking research on intellectual property and sustainable development (including the debate over the right to repair); greenwashing, astroturfing, climate misinformation and disinformation; intellectual property, access to essential medicines, and public health (particularly looking at the COVID-19 crisis and the WHO Pandemic Agreement), and tobacco endgame policies. His work is archived at QUT ePrints, SSRN Abstracts, Bepress Selected Works, and Open Science Framework.

Rimmer has published four major research monographs. Rimmer is the author of a research monograph, The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Intellectual Property and Trade in the Pacific Rim (Edward Elgar, 2020), Intellectual Property and Climate Change: Inventing Clean Technologies (Edward Elgar, 2011), Intellectual Property and Biotechnology: Biological Inventions (Edward Elgar, 2008), and Digital Copyright and the Consumer Revolution: Hands off my iPod (Edward Elgar, 2007). His PhD Dissertation is on The Pirate Bazaar: The Social Life of Copyright Law (UNSW, 2001).

Rimmer has also edited a number of collections. In collaboration with Bita Amani and Caroline B. Ncube, Rimmer is the editor of The Elgar Companion to Intellectual Property and the Sustainable Development Goals (Edward Elgar, 2023). Along with Dinusha Mendis and Mark Lemley, Rimmer is the editor of the collection, 3D Printing and Beyond: Intellectual Property and Regulation (Edward Elgar, 2019). Rimmer is the editor of the collection, Intellectual Property and Clean Energy: The Paris Agreement and Climate Justice (Springer, 2018). Rimmer has edited a special issue of the QUT Law Review on the topic, The Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products (2017) - which featured a foreword by former Minister for Health and Attorney-General Nicola Roxon. Rimmer is the editor of the collection, Indigenous Intellectual Property: A Handbook of Contemporary Research (Edward Elgar, 2015). Rimmer is also a co-editor of Intellectual Property and Emerging Technologies: The New Biology (Edward Elgar, 2012), and Incentives for Global Public Health: Patent Law and Access to Essential Medicines (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Rimmer edited the thematic issue of Law in Context, entitled Patent Law and Biological Inventions (Federation Press, 2006).

Over the past two decades, Rimmer's research has been supported by a number of nationally competitive research grant applications. Rimmer has been a chief investigator in an Australian Research Council Discovery Project, 'Gene Patents In Australia: Options For Reform' (2003-2005), an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant, 'The Protection of Botanical Inventions' (2003); an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant, 'Unlocking IP' (2006-2008) and an Australian Research Council Discovery Project, 'Promoting Plant Innovation in Australia' (2009-2011). He was an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, working on Intellectual Property and Climate Change from 2011 to 2015. Rimmer was a Chief Investigator on an ARC Discovery Project on 'Inventing The Future: Intellectual Property and 3D Printing' (2017-2021). He is a chief investigator of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame (CREATE) (2020-2026). Rimmer has experience in directing large-scale collaborative research projects on intellectual property and global challenges.

Rimmer is a chief investigator in the QUT Australian Centre for Health Law Research (QUT ACHLR). He is an associate investigator of the QUT Energy Transition Centre. He is a chief investigator in the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame (CREATE) (2020-2026) - a transnational research network. Rimmer was previously the leader of the QUT Intellectual Property and Innovation Law Research Program from 2015-2020 (QUT IPIL). He was also a member of the QUT Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society, and Technology (QUT BEST), QUT Digital Media Research Centre (QUT DMRC), the QUT Centre for the Digital Economy, the QUT Centre for Justice, the QUT Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Processes, and the QUT International Law and Global Governance Research Program.

Dr Matthew Rimmer holds a BA (Hons) and a University Medal in literature (1995), and a LLB (Hons) (1997) from the Australian National University. He received a PhD in law from the University of New South Wales for his dissertation on The Pirate Bazaar: The Social Life of Copyright Law (1998-2001). Dr Matthew Rimmer was a lecturer, senior lecturer, and an associate professor at the ANU College of Law, and a research fellow and an associate director of the Australian Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture (ACIPA) (2001 to 2015). He was an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, working on Intellectual Property and Climate Change from 2011 to 2015. He was a member of the ANU Climate Change Institute.

Rimmer has supervised nine students who have completed Higher Degree Research projects on the topics, Secret Business and Business Secrets: The Hindmarsh Island Affair, Information Law, and the Public Sphere (2007); Intellectual Property and Applied Philosophy (2010); The Pharmacy of the Developing World: Indian Patent Law and Access to Essential Medicines (2012); Marine Bioprospecting: International Law, Indonesia and Sustainable Development (2014); Social Media Policies and Work: Reconciling Personal Autonomy Interests and Employer Risk (2017), copyright law and musical sampling (2017), True Tracks: Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Principles for putting Self-Determination into Practice (2019), Community-Based Patent Opposition Model in India (2020), and The Theft of Culture and Inauthentic Art and Craft Products: Australian Consumer Law, and Indigenous Intellectual Property (2020). He has also supervised a post-doctoral researcher (2021) working on intellectual property and 3D printing in the context of the coronavirus public health crisis.

Experience

  • 2015–present
    Professor , Queensland University of Technology
  • 2011–2015
    Australian Research Council Future Fellow, The Australian National University
  • 2001–2015
    Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, The Australian National University
  • 2001–2015
    Research fellow, ACIPA
  • 2015–2015
    Distinguished Visiting Professor, The University of Toronto
  • 2006–2006
    Visiting Lecturer, The University of Western Ontario

Education

  • 2001 
    UNSW, PhD, Law
  • 1997 
    ANU, LLB, First Class Honours
  • 1995 
    ANU, BA, First Class Honours and University Medal in English Literature

Publications

  • 2024
    Bita Amani, Caroline B. Ncube, and Matthew Rimmer (ed.), The Elgar Companion on Intellectual Property and the Sustainable Development Goals, Cheltenham (UK) and Northampton (Mass.): Edward Elgar, 2024., https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/the-elgar-companion-to-intellectual-property-and-the-sustainable-development-goals-9781803925226.html
  • 2020
    Matthew Rimmer, The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Intellectual Property and Trade in the Pacific Rim. Cheltenham (UK) and Northampton (Mass.): Edward Elgar, 2020., https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/the-trans-pacific-partnership-9781788973311.html
  • 2019
    Dinusha Mendis, Mark Lemley, and Matthew Rimmer (ed.), 3D Printing and Beyond: Intellectual Property and Regulation. Cheltenham (UK) and Northampton (Mass.): Edward Elgar, 2019., https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/3d-printing-and-beyond
  • 2018
    Matthew Rimmer (ed.), Intellectual Property and Clean Energy: The Paris Agreement and Climate Justice. Singapore: Springer, 2018, https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811321542
  • 2017
    Matthew Rimmer (ed.), The Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products, QUT Law Review, Vol. 17 (2), 2017, pp 177., https://lr.law.qut.edu.au/issue/view/55
  • 2015
    Matthew Rimmer (ed.), Indigenous Intellectual Property: A Handbook of Contemporary Research, Cheltenham (UK) and Northampton (Mass.): Edward Elgar, December 2015., http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/indigenous-intellectual-property
  • 2012
    Matthew Rimmer and Alison McLennan (ed.), Intellectual Property and Emerging Technologies: The New Biology, Cheltenham (UK) and Northampton (Mass.): Edward Elgar, January 2012., http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/intellectual-property-and-emerging-technologies
  • 2011
    Matthew Rimmer, Intellectual Property and Climate Change: Inventing Clean Technologies, Cheltenham (UK) and Northampton (Mass.): Edward Elgar, September 2011. , http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/intellectual-property-and-climate-change
  • 2010
    Thomas Pogge, Matthew Rimmer and Kim Rubenstein, (ed.) Incentives for Global Public Health: Patent Law and Access to Medicines. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010., http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521116565
  • 2008
    Matthew Rimmer, Intellectual Property and Biotechnology: Biological Inventions, Cheltenham (UK) and Northampton (Mass.): Edward Elgar, January 2008., http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/intellectual-property-and-biotechnology
  • 2007
    Matthew Rimmer, Digital Copyright and the Consumer Revolution: Hands off my iPod, Cheltenham (UK) and Northampton (Mass.): Edward Elgar, July 2007., http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/intellectual-property-and-biotechnology
  • 2006
    Matthew Rimmer (ed). Patent Law and Biological Inventions, (2006) 24 (1) Law in Context 1-164., http://www.federationpress.com.au/bookstore/book.asp?isbn=1862876371
  • 2001
    Matthew Rimmer, The Pirate Bazaar: The Social Life of Copyright Law, Sydney: The University of New South Wales School of Law, 2001., http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UNSWLawTD/2001/1.html

Grants and Contracts

  • 2021
    QUT Edge Grant on Intellectual Property and 3D Printing: Public Health and the Coronavirus COVID-19
    Role:
    Supervisor
    Funding Source:
    QUT Edge
  • 2020
    NHMRC Centre of Excellence on Achieving a Tobacco Endgame
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    National Health and Medical Research Council
  • 2017
    Inventing the Future: Intellectual Property and 3D Printing
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian Research Council
  • 2011
    Intellectual Property and Climate Change
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian Research Council
  • 2009
    Promoting Plant Innovation in Australia: maximising the benefits of intellectual property for Australian agriculture
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian Research Council
  • 2005
    Unlocking Intellectual Property
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian Research Council
  • 2003
    Gene Patents In Australia: Options For Reform
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian Research Council
  • 2003
    The Protection of Botanical Inventions
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian Research Council

Research Areas

  • Intellectual Property Law (180115)
  • Communication Technology And Digital Media Studies (200102)
  • Ethical Use Of New Technology (E.G. Nanotechnology, Biotechnology) (220103)
  • Environmental And Natural Resources Law (180111)
  • Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Law (180101)
  • Public Health And Health Services (1117)
  • Innovation And Technology Management (150307)

Contact Matthew for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision