Bridging the gap between bioethics and patent law
PatentsinHumans is a five-year interdisciplinary project funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting grant led by Professor Aisling McMahon, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University.
The five main types of patentable technologies related to the human body which will be examined during this project include:
Patentable technologies which treat the body
e.g. medicines, elements of vaccines etc
Patentable technologies which act on the body
e.g. elements of diagnostic tests
Patentable technologies that are in the body
e.g. isolated human genes
Patentable technologies that can be integrated with the body
e.g. elements of medical devices, prosthetics etc.
Patentable technologies that are akin to the human body or which can modify the body
e.g. neuro-technologies, gene editing techniques etc.
To learn more about the PatentsInHumans Project, please watch this short video from Principal Investigator, Professor Aisling McMahon.
Latest News:
Prof Aisling McMahon (ERC PatentsInHumans) organises international workshop with Prof Jessica Lai (Victoria University of Wellington) and Prof Leanne Wiseman (Griffith University) on “Intellectual Property Law and MedTech”
On Friday 19th June, Prof Aisling McMahon (ERC PatentsInHumans Project, Maynooth University), Prof...
ERC PatentsInHumans Project hosts international project workshop on ‘Human Rights, Bioethics and Patents over Health-Technologies’ in Maynooth University.
The ERC PatentsInHumans Project team led by Professor Aisling McMahon (Principal Investigator),...
Prof Aisling McMahon & Lauren Kane publish chapter examining the right to health and access to patented health-technologies for rare diseases in a leading international collection on ‘Intellectual Property Law and Human Rights’
Prof Aisling McMahon & Lauren Kane have published a chapter entitled “Patents & Access to...
ERC PatentsInHumans Team Launch Policy Brief and Artwork representing Conceptual Project Findings around Bioethical Implications posed by Patents over Health-Technologies
As part of our public and policy engagement strategy, the ERC PatentsInHumans team are delighted...
Maynooth School of Law and Criminology researchers present 5 intellectual property law papers at the Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Conference.
Over the course of three days, from 30 March to 1 April, European Research Council (ERC) funded...
Professor Aisling McMahon selected to join the Royal Irish Academy’s Young Academy of Ireland
Professor Aisling McMahon (Principal Investigator, ERC PatentsInHumans) was recentlyselected as...
Prof Aisling McMahon & Lauren Kane have co-authored a chapter examining the Right to Health and Access to Patented Health Technologies for Rare Disease, forthcoming in a leading international collection on Intellectual Property and Human Rights.
Prof Aisling McMahon & Lauren Kane (Research Assistant, PatentsInHumans Project) have...
PatentsInHumans’ Postdoctoral Researcher Aislinn Fanning publishes a review of Pratap Devarapalli’s new book entitled ‘Bioinked Boundaries: Patenting 3D Bioprinted Tissues, Organs and Bioinks: An US, European and Australian Patent Law Perspective’ in The IPKat
Aislinn Fanning, PIH Postdoctoral Researcher, recently published a review of Pratap Devarapalli’s...
PatentsInHumansTeam Present Panel at Irish Association of Law Teachers (IALT) Conference 2025 in Ulster University, Derry
On 22nd November 2025, as part of a panel session entitled “Reconceptualising the Role of...
PatentsinHumans marks Year 3! A summary of Blog Articles from 2025!
The PatentsInHumans project marked three years in existence on the 1st of November 2025! To mark...