CIPPM celebrates 25 years in 2025

This year – 2025 – is a special year for CIPPM as the Centre will celebrate its 25th anniversary. Established in 2000, under its co-founders Professor Martin Kretschmer and Professor Ruth Soetendorp, CIPPM rapidly grew in stature carrying out significant research projects on intellectual property and policy whilst also leading the way on IP education.

Since then, and over the past 25 years, CIPPM has conducted multiple research projects, informed policy and has continued its work in IP education. These have ranged, amongst others, from informing key policy debates and carrying out commissioned projects arising from the Gowers Review, Hargreaves Review, copyright term extension, authors’ earnings, unitary patent and unified patent court to the impact of new technologies on IP law (3D printing, blockchain, artificial intelligence, deepfake), whilst continuing to lead on IP education through embedding IP into non-law curricula through projects such as the IP-engineering project Copyrightuser.org

Here is a snap shot of some of the earlier work (drawn from the waybackmachine). More recent research projects, public lectures, courses amongst others from 2011-present, can be accessed through this site.

In 2017, the Centre received three-years funding from the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Programme to set up a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on “European Intellectual Property and Information Rights”.

In 2024, CIPPM was selected by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) to host the UK’s only Summer School on Intellectual Property, which was awarded once again in 2025.

As the Centre reflects on the past 25 years there is much to celebrate, which we look forward to doing in 2025.

Along with the founding Directors of CIPPM Professor Martin Krestchmer (2000 – 2012) and Professor Ruth Soetendorp (2000 – 2007) the following academics have directed CIPPM, in the past 25 years.

Directors:

2013 – 2021: Professor Maurizio Borghi

2022 – Present: Professor Dinusha Mendis

 

Co-Directors and Associate Directors:

2008 – Present: Professor Ruth Soetendorp

2008 – Present: Professor Ruth Towse

2012 – 2021: Professor Dinusha Mendis

2024 – Present: Dr Claudy Op den Kamp.