In February 2023, the PatentsInHumans logo was created by Wonder Works Studio Ltd. in consultation with Professor Aisling McMahon (PatentsInHumans Principal Investigator) and Sinéad Masterson (PatentsInHumans Project Manager) The logo utilises shades of blue and cyan at the range ~ 450 – 510 NM on the colour spectrum and includes Vivid Cyan (#08efa1), Bright Cyan (#29ddd8), Dark Blue (#2875b0), Light Blue (#5080ff), Pure Blue (#0093df) and Very Dark Blue (123360). Blue is one of the most appealing colours on the spectrum due to its non-polarising traits. It is calming and relaxing yet gives the impression of authority by creating order. It is associated with feelings of trust, wisdom, sincerity, commitment and intelligence, all values which we hope to bestow in the PatentsInHumans project.
PatentsInHumans is the project short title assigned by Professor McMahon when developing the ERC project proposal and applying for ERC funding.
The title captures the project’s core focus and aims which is to examine the bioethical issues posed by patents – and how they are used – when granted on technologies that relate to various aspects of the human body.
This title will be maintained throughout the course of the project in engagement and dissemination activities and has become our social media handle #patentsinhumans and the title of our website. This title forms the basis of the logo and uses the Filson Pro Soft font in bold. This font was Designed by Olivier Gourvat of Mostardesign in 2014 and is a new geometric sans serif family with versatility in mind. Filson Soft is the rounded version of Filson Pro. The main feature of Filson Soft font is the rounded terminations that make the font family very elegant and perfect for original titles due to its legibility, versatility and friendly aspect.
The primary icon is an adaptation of the universal healthcare symbol (a cross) which has been flipped, narrowed and modified in a curved manner to represent a human person. Alongside this, the two interlinked aspects to the body represent patent law and bioethics respectively, and these are drawn in a curved and overlapping manner to denote the core project aim of bridging the current disconnects between bioethics and patent law, in order to reconceptualise patent decision-making in this context in a person centred manner.
The five colours within these two interlinking elements of the main body (described above) represent the five-category taxonomy of patentable- technologies related to the human body as devised by Prof McMahon within the project proposal. This five-category taxonomy acts as a scaffold to guide the project analysis probing a range of technologies related to different aspects of the form, functioning and modification of the human body. This five category taxonomy of patentable technologies will be examined throughout the course of the project, and represents patentable i.e. technologies that are in the body; technologies that act on the body; technologies that are integrated in the body; technologies that treat the body and technologies that are akin to the body.
The secondary logo goes a step further and includes our primary icon denoting the bridging of bioethics and patent law in a person-centred manner with the addition of five icons each individually representing one aspect of this five-category taxonomy described above. The DNA helix represents patentable ‘technologies’ that are in the body, the test tube represents patentable technologies that act on the body e.g. elements of diagnostic tests; the medical device icon (in this instance a pacemaker) represents elements of patentable technologies that are integrated in the body; the pill represents patentable technologies that treat the body such as medicines, and the fifth icon of the human head and technology symbol representing technologies, which are akin to the body or which could modify what it means to be human given thought to the future of humanity e.g. patents on technologies related to human enhancement such as elements of neural implants. These icons can be used together or separate and will be utilised throughout the course of the project during the project dissemination, engagement and publication activities.
