The Professor Bill Cornish Memorial Lecture 2024 – “Intellectual Property norms in the Polycrisis – (Still) Omnipresent, Distracting, Irrelevant?”

A video recording of this lecture is available here.

The Bill Cornish Memorial Lecture 2024, scheduled for May 7th at 5:00 PM London time, warmly invites online participation alongside in-person attendance. For those unable to join physically, the event offers a seamless virtual experience through Zoom. Simply register via the provided link to gain access to this esteemed lecture series honoring the legacy of Bill Cornish. Whether you’re attending in person or virtually, this event promises to be a thought-provoking and engaging experience for all participants.

The Bill Cornish Memorial lecture series has been established as an annual event by LSE academics Dr Martin Husovec and Dr Luke McDonagh to honour the late Professor Bill Cornish who passed away in 2022. Inaugurated by Prof Jane Ginsburg in 2023, the lecture series will feature eminent scholars who, like Prof Cornish, have contributed to the study of authorship, creativity, innovation and IP ownership. During the late 1960s Prof Cornish pioneered the teaching of Intellectual Property Law at LSE, becoming the progenitor of intellectual property law scholarship and teaching in the United Kingdom. He spent nearly 30 years at the LSE between 1962 and 1990, from 1970 as a Professor of English Law. His work combined a deep knowledge of English legal history and intellectual property law, with a European and law-in-context outlook on the regulation of markets and technologies.

Twenty years since Professor Cornish asked whether IP is “omnipresent, distracting, irrelevant?” that question is more pertinent than ever.  Recent years of instability have compounded the polycrisis the world is facing whilst the 2030 deadline to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals looms closer and closer. Intellectual Property (IP) remains one of multiple regulatory systems seeking solutions in the highly dynamic and insecure contexts of the climate emergency, uneven global development, and pandemics. Now is an opportune time to return to Prof. Cornish’s question and ask whether appropriate IP norms have been set; or whether states, policymakers and legislatures have merely settled for a “more of the same” approach? If the former, then IP’s relevance to combatting the polycrisis may be confirmed; but if the latter, then debates about IP may have become no more than a deadly distraction.

Speaker: Professor Caroline Ncube (University of Cape Town) 

Professor Caroline Ncube is the DSI/NRF SARChI Research Chair in Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development in the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She holds a PhD in IP Law from the University of Cape Town; an LLM from the University of Cambridge (where she was taught by Prof. Cornish); and an LLB from the University of Zimbabwe. Before joining UCT in 2005, Prof Ncube lectured at the University of Limpopo (formerly University of the North) and the University of Zimbabwe. Prior to that, she practiced as an attorney at Coghlan, Welsh & Guest.

Discussant: Professor Uma Suthersanen (QMUL)

Chairs: Dr Martin Husovec (LSE) & Dr Luke McDonagh (LSE) 

This event functions on a first-come, first-served basis. To secure your place, we recommend arriving early.

A drinks reception will also follow this event.