Intellectual Property and Clean Energy - The Paris Agreement and Climate Justice

This collection considers the future of climate innovation after the Paris Agreement. It analyses the debate over intellectual property and climate change in a range of forums - including the climate talks, the World Trade Organization, and the World Intellectual Property Organization, as well as multilateral institutions dealing with food, health, and biodiversity. The book investigates the critical role patent law plays in providing incentives for renewable energy and access to critical inventions for the greater public good, as well as plant breeders' rights and their impact upon food security and climate change. Also considered is how access to genetic resources raises questions about biodiversity and climate change. This collection also explores the significant impact of trademark law in terms of green trademarks, eco labels, and greenwashing. The key role played by copyright law in respect of access to environmental information is also considered. The book also looks at deadlocks in the debate over intellectual property and climate change, and provides theoretical, policy, and practical solutions to overcome such impasses.


Matthew Rimmer is Professor in Intellectual Property and Innovation Law at the Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. He is a leader of the QUT Intellectual Property and Innovation Law research program, a member of the QUT Digital Media Research Centre the QUT Australian Centre for Health Law Research, and the QUT International Law and Global Governance Research Program. 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, and indigenous intellectual property. His current research interests include: intellectual property, the creative industries, and 3D printing; intellectual property and public health; and intellectual property and trade, looking at the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and the Trade in Services Agreement.