Prof. Jeremy de Beer is a law professor at the University of Ottawa, working on technological innovation, intellectual property and international trade and development, and the co-Principal Investigator of the Open A.I.R. project.

Many of his refereed articles on intellectual property issues relating to innovation and creativity appear in top-ranked journals recognized across the disciplines of law, business, communications and political science. He is a specialist in interdisciplinary research and problem-based analysis in fields ranging from information communication technology in the digital economy, to biotechnology in life sciences industries, to technology innovation strategy at international, national, and firm levels. He has authored numerous other papers, studies and commissioned reports, and published five books, including the newest, Innovation and Intellectual Property: Collaborative Dynamics in Africa. He is a frequent media commentator and public speaker, delivering lectures and presentations throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa.

As a leader of several large-scale research projects, he is currently exploring the role of intellectual property as a tool for collaboration in diverse formal and informal economic settings on the African continent, and, in Canada, rethinking the role of intellectual property for open innovation. His work is or recently has been funded by Canada’s Social Science and Humanities Research Council, Genome Canada, the International Development Research Centre, the European Commission, and other funding agencies.

Professor de Beer teaches seminars on intellectual property advocacy, global intellectual property policy, the digital music business, and sustainable international development, and an introduction to the fundamentals of property law. He actively supervises graduate and undergraduate students working on issues related to intellectual property and innovation. Academic qualifications include a graduate degree in law from the University of Oxford and undergraduate degrees in business and in law from the University of Saskatchewan.


He is also a practicing lawyer and consultant to technology companies, creator groups, law firms, think tanks, governments and international organizations. After working at MacLeod Dixon LLP and clerking at the Federal Court of Appeal, he was legal counsel to the Copyright Board. He has appeared in court as counsel before the Federal Court of Appeal and recently in a series of landmark copyright cases before the Supreme Court of Canada.