Professor Abbe Brown

Biography

Abbe's research, teaching and policy engagement explores intellectual property and its intersection with other legal fields, in addressing key societal challenges.  Abbe is Chair of British and Irish Law Education and Technology Association (BILETA) and  NERC Constructing a Digital Environment Senior Expert.  

Abbe signed 2021 Academic Open Letter in Support of the TRIPS Intellectual Property Waiver Proposal, the ICJ Opinion on Human Rights and the TRIPS Waiver and the ASPHER TRIPS Waiver Statement.   She was discussant at the 2022 book launch of Pratyush Upreti's  Intellectual Property Objectives in International Investment Agreements (e-elgar.com) 

Abbe's 2018 inaugural "Saving the world and delivering equality? Law, innovation and power" is here. 

Abbe spent almost 10 years in professional legal practice in London, Melbourne and Edinburgh. Abbe maintains links with the profession and industry and contributes to Open Research activities. 

Since 2018 Abbe is involved in UNCLOS and Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction negotiations, in collaboration with colleagues from Chemistry and developed the Song of the Ocean and was nominated for Green Gown Research with Impact Award 2022.  Abbe attended COP26 in the University's delegation. 

Abbe served as University Dean for Student Support and was part of Quality Enhancement institutional review of University of Iceland and European University Association's "Collaborative Teaching Practice" Thematic Peer Group 2022.  

PhD Supervision

Abbe supervises PhD in technology and innovation law. Abbe is supervising projects incorporating governance and patents, IP and climate change and patents and genes. 

Office hours (hours available to students for informal discussion, in person or online) 

1.30-2.30pm UK time Thursdays term time, or other times abbe.brown@abdn.ac.uk  

Abbe is on research leave in 2023 and holds visiting roles at  IPRIA, University of Melbourne; Trinity College, University of Melbourne; and Macquarie University.     

Prizes and Awards

University of Aberdeen Principal's Outstanding Research Award (Individuals at Further Stages of Career Development (Arts, Humanities and Social Science)) 2022

Nominated for Green Gown Award 2022 "Sharing the Benefits of the Ocean"

Research Overview

Abbe's research explores the interaction between legal fields relevant to innovation and creativity, with a strong interest on key societal challenges. She is a member of two of the School's Research Centres, the Centre for Commercial Law and the Centre for Energy Law. Abbe was the School of Law lead for REF2021.  

Abbe was part of the interdisciplinary interinstitutional team which won the Coventry University Research Team of the Year 2017 for the InVisible Difference project.  Abbe frequently contributes to public consultations relevant to her research, eg EU "Multilateral Reform of Investment Dispute Resolution" (2017), UK BEIS "Clean Growth Strategy" (2017), UK Human Rights Committee inquiry "Defending Rights: attitudes to enforcement" (2018), the Strategic Priorities of the Scottish Human Rights Commission (2019) and the UK Parliament International Relations and Defence Committee "UNCLOS: fit for purpose in the 21st century?" (2021).     

Since 2018 Abbe has been part of an interdisciplinary team exploring Marine Genetic Resources in the UN Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction negotiations and inspired by this has qualified as a PADI open water diver, and in 2021 engaged in new forms of public engagement through song at local and global levels with the Song of the Ocean, and in online enlightenment salons through the Royal Society of Edinburgh's "Tea and Talk".       

Abbe published a monograph in 2012 with Edward Elgar Intellectual Property, Human Rights and Competition: Access to Essential Innovation and Technology, an edited collection in 2013 with Edward Elgar Environmental Technologies, Intellectual Property and Climate Change, with Charlotte Waelde an edited collection in 2018 with Edward Elgar Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and Creative Industries and in 2019 a monograph with Edward Elgar Intellectual Property, Climate Change and Technology.    Her research has been supported by the Modern Law Review, the Clark Foundation for Legal Education, the British Academy (see website), the Carnegie Trust, the Wellcome Trust (see IGBE here), the British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Association and the Arts and Humanities Reseach Council (see eg InVisible Difference here and blog here).  

Abbe has also contributed to leading textbooks in the intellectual property and information technology field, notably Contemporary Intellectual Property Law and Policy with Oxford University Press.  

Current Research

Present projects involve culture, disability and heritage; innovation, energy and sustainability; access to marine genetic resources; and underpinning common themes and intertwining of relevant laws.  

She is a member of EU Horizon 2020-funded MARBLES programme, a £6.37 million (€7.5 million), 5-year project that will develop new methods for the sustainable collection and use of biological resources from marine environments and assess their commercial potential; and BlueRemediomics, a 4 year project awarded 7.65 million euros under Horizon Europe and 1.54million Euros provided by UKRI and SERI to harness the vast potential for marine microbial resources and to develop novel tools and approaches. 

She was a part of "Scientific knowledge across jurisdictions. Traceability, access and benefit sharing (ABS) and scientific policy in a multicultural world” funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a new RSE project to begin in 2022 "Ocean and US: Intersecting scientific knowledge and local knowledge for a more equitable and just ocean policy". 

She is a member of a UKRI-JSPS project exploring COVID and IP. 

Find her work via Google Scholar and Researchgate 

ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2222-4537

Abbe is delighted to receive requests regarding PhD supervision in any aspect of intellectual property and technology law. 

Knowledge Exchange

Abbe is interested in PhD supervision in any aspect of technology and innovation law. Abbe is supervising projects incorporate governance and patents, and IP and climate change. 

Funding and Grants

Teaching Responsibilities

Intellectual Property

Professional Skills in Intellectual Property