Professor Dinwoodie is a prolific intellectual property scholar of international renown. From 2009 to 2018, he was Professor of Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law at the University of Oxford, where he was also Director of the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre and a Professorial Fellow of St. Peter’s College. Immediately prior to taking up the IP Chair at Oxford, Professor Dinwoodie was for several years a Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he led the Program in Intellectual Property Law. From 2005 to 2009, he also held a Chair in Intellectual Property Law at Queen Mary College, University of London. Professor Dinwoodie rejoined the Chicago-Kent faculty in 2016 as a University Professor, an appointment reserved for 'highly distinguished faculty who may be appointed by the President [of Illinois Institute of Technology] in recognition of their national reputations.' And in 2018, he returned full-time to Chicago-Kent upon his appointment as Global Professor of Intellectual Property Law. He remains a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Oxford.

Professor Dinwoodie is the author of many books and casebooks; dozens of articles, book chapters and other substantial works; and numerous essays and shorter works. His scholarship is widely cited by scholars in the United States and abroad. He received the 2008 Ladas Memorial Award from the International Trademark Association for his article Confusion Over Use: Contextualism in Trademark Law (with M. Janis). He is considered a leading international authority in trademark law, design law, and international intellectual property law, and is regularly invited to speak at numerous conferences and institutions around the world. Professor Dinwoodie has held a number of visiting or honorary positions, including as the Yong Shook Lin Visiting Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the National University of Singapore, a Global Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, an Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Strasbourg, the George P. Smith II Distinguished Visiting Chair at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, and a visiting professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. In 2008, Professor Dinwoodie received the Pattishall Medal for Teaching Excellence in the field of trademarks and trade identity law—awarded only once every four years—from the International Trademark Association. In 2020, Professor Dinwoodie was inducted into the IP Hall of Fame. Professor Dinwoodie holds an LL.B. degree in Private Law (First Class Honors) from the University of Glasgow, an LL.M. from Harvard Law School, and a J.S.D. from Columbia Law School. He was the Burton Fellow in residence at Columbia Law School for 1988-89, working in the field of intellectual property law, and a John F. Kennedy Scholar at Harvard Law School for 1987–88.