About

Kerri-Ann Rowe is a Clinical Associate Professor of Law and Reference Librarian at the Kathrine R. Everett Law Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her teaching and research interests include legal research and instruction. Professor Rowe earned her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School and her M.L.I.S. from Syracuse University. She also holds a B.A. in the History of Science and Medicine from Yale University. Prior to her current position, she worked as the Student Services and Outreach Librarian at the University of Colorado Law School. Her professional focus is on legal research, providing instruction, and supporting law students and faculty through her librarian role.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Social Science
• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Philosophy
• World Wide Web
• Law and economics
• Public relations
• Library science
• Linguistics
• Law
• Media studies

Selected publications

• Design Law: Global Law and Practice

  International Journal of Legal Information · 2025-03-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  True to its name, Design Law: Global Law and Practice is global in scope, targeting a wide audience from "practitioners as well as scholars, right holders as well as aspiring designers, policymakers as well as students" (p.2).The book's approach to design law includes an expansive span of topics, ranging from introductory for those new to design law to sophisticated as appropriate for more experienced legal practitioners.Design Law begins with a thorough introduction, providing an overview of the most salient topics covered in the book: cumulative protection; functionality; spare parts and the right to review; visibility; and emerging technologies.This section provides a brief discussion of the countries that possess interesting or unusual applications of these topics or that, in the alternative, do not have the applicable framework.While this might not be enough of an introduction for a complete novice to the topic, the overview provides a comprehensive basis for someone relatively new to design law, allowing them to have enough of a basis to tackle the rest of the book.The next section of the introduction discusses present-day trends and challenges in design law, providing a basis for the topics to be covered in Parts II and III of the book.These parts deal with international treaties and their application as well as "substantive design law issues" (p.23).Before delving into Part I: Design Laws Around the World Country-by-Country, the introduction concludes with an overview of proposed European Union (EU) design law reforms based on expected significant changes.Both the Design Regulation and the Design Directive were still outstanding at the time of the book's publication in 2024, but the reform package was published in November 2024, with parts set to take effect beginning in May 2025.Organized alphabetically by country, Part I begins with Australia and ends with Design Prosecution before the EUIPO and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).Part I also includes a lengthy discussion of design law in China; industrial design law in France, Italy, India, and Japan; design protection in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, and Sweden); design patent law in the United States (US); and a post-Brexit review of design protection in the United Kingdom (UK).The chapters vary in length and depth of coverage regarding the individual countries, but the expertise of the individual authors shines through, even as the depth of treatment of individual topics and countries varies.Part II: International Treaties and Jurisdiction dedicates a chapter to the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) for industrial design registration before discussing the "forbidden words" (p.441) at the heart of the controversy surrounding the draft Design Law Treaty.The last chapter in this part covers the European approach to multistate infringement of design rights.Part III: Present-Day and Future Trends covers topics from "prior art in design law, viewed from an international perspective" to a chapter on "fashion in design law, with a focus on EU Law" (p.23).Also included is a chapter dedicated to redesigning design protection and another on the European perspective on the concept of aesthetic creative freedom.The book concludes with two chapters discussing "the way forward" (p.24) and where design law may be headed, with one focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) and another on where design law may be headed within a circular economy.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• What’s in A Name: How Terminology Affects the Relationships Between Libraries, Librarians, Users, and Principles of Inclusivity

  Legal Reference Services Quarterly · 2024

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Computer Science
  • Political Science

  Terminology matters. Law librarians use a variety of terms to describe those who use the library—from user to member, customer to patron, and others. This article examines the terms that are used and what that terminology implies about the relationship between librarian and library user. By considering the attitudes, behaviors, and connotations behind the terminology librarians use, librarians, specifically law librarians, can impact library users' sense of inclusion and belonging.

  PublisherDOI

• LibGuides: Military Law Research: International Courts and Tribunals

  2020-01-22

  libguides1st authorCorresponding

  This guide provides an overview of research strategies and resources for military law courses at UNC School of Law, including military justice, the law of armed conflict, and national security law.

  Publisher

• LibGuides: Military Law Research: Statutes and Legislative History

  2020-01-22

  libguides1st authorCorresponding

  This guide provides an overview of research strategies and resources for military law courses at UNC School of Law, including military justice, the law of armed conflict, and national security law.

  Publisher

• LibGuides: Military Law Research: International Organizations

  2020-01-22

  libguides1st authorCorresponding

  This guide provides an overview of research strategies and resources for military law courses at UNC School of Law, including military justice, the law of armed conflict, and national security law.

  Publisher

• LibGuides: Military Law Research: Secondary Sources

  2020-01-22

  libguides1st authorCorresponding

  This guide provides an overview of research strategies and resources for military law courses at UNC School of Law, including military justice, the law of armed conflict, and national security law.

  Publisher

• Research Handbook on Art and Law

  International Journal of Legal Information · 2020

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Law and economics

  Research Handbook on Art and Law. Edited by Jani McCutcheon and Fiona McGaughey. Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020. ISBN: 978-1-78897-146-1. £180.00; $270.00. - Volume 48 Issue 3

  PublisherDOI

• LibGuides: Military Law Research: Customary International Humanitarian Law

  2020-01-22

  libguides1st authorCorresponding

  This guide provides an overview of research strategies and resources for military law courses at UNC School of Law, including military justice, the law of armed conflict, and national security law.

  Publisher

• LibGuides: Military Law Research: Treaties and Conventions

  2020-01-22

  libguides1st authorCorresponding

  This guide provides an overview of research strategies and resources for military law courses at UNC School of Law, including military justice, the law of armed conflict, and national security law.

  Publisher

• LibGuides: Military Law Research: National Security Law

  2020-01-22

  libguides1st authorCorresponding

  This guide provides an overview of research strategies and resources for military law courses at UNC School of Law, including military justice, the law of armed conflict, and national security law.

  Publisher