Dr Matt Fisher

Biography

Dr Matt Fisher is an expert in the field of patent law and has gained an international reputation for his scholarship, in particular for that on patent claim construction.  His work has been cited before the UK Supreme Court on a number of occasions, and he is regularly asked to provide consultancy on patent matters both in the UK and abroad. 

Matt joined the Faculty of Laws on a permanent basis in 2009.  In addition to his excellent scholarship, he is a popular and effective teacher: a recipient of two Faculty Awards for Excellence in Legal Teaching in 2014 (one for postgraduate and the other for undergraduate teaching) and was additionally part of a team that received a Provost's Teaching Award in the same year. Matt has also held a number of significant administrative posts withing the Faculty of Laws at UCL including Vice Dean (Education) (from 2012-2015), and Deputy Chair then Chair of the Undergraduate Board of Examiners (2009-12).  Prior to his move to UCL Matt worked (as both lecturer and senior lecturer) at the University of Bristol (2002-9). He has also taught, on a visiting basis, at the University of Hong Kong (2002-2013).

Matt is particularly interested in patent law, and has developed a body of work, which is both cross-disciplinary - concerning legal, economic and historical analyses of the patent system - and comparative - examining international perspectives on patent law, particularly with respect to the UK, Germany, the US, Japan and the European Patent Office.  He is regularly invited to attend seminars and roundtable discussions to talk about his work, and has been engaged on a consultancy basis in connection with a number of high-profile patent disputes in the UK and elsewhere. Matt's articles have attracted international attention, have been cited before the Supreme Court on a number of occasions, including in oral argument in Actavis v Ely Lilly [2017] UKSC 48, and, most recently, in Warner-Lambert v Actavis (UKSC 2016/0197) - [https://www.supremecourt.uk/watch/uksc-2016-0197/130218-pm.html from 28 minutes in]. His first monograph, Fundamentals of Patent Law: Interpretation and Scope of Protection (Hart, 2007), won the inaugural Inner Temple Young Author's Book Prize in 2008. Additionally, Matt is often used by publishing houses (including Ashgate, Hart Publishing, Oxford University Press, Palgrave, Pearson Education and Sweet & Maxwell) to review both manuscripts and articles for publication.