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:
Professor Aisling McMahon delivered invited research seminar on patent decision-making, institutional frameworks and the marginalisation of health needs at Durham CELLS Seminar Series, Durham University
On 20th May 2024, Professor Aisling McMahon delivered a research seminar on “Patents and the...
Professor Aisling McMahon appointed as member of the Irish National Research Ethics Committee for Clinical Trials
In April 2024, Professor Aisling McMahon was appointed by the Minister for Health as a member of...
Professor Aisling McMahon & Dr Opeyemi Kolawole publish article in Medical Law Review on bioethical issues related to IPRs over downstream health-technologies developed in the biobank context
Professor Aisling McMahon and Dr Opeyemi Kolawole have published an article entitled “Biobank...
Law Society Gazette in Ireland features an article by Prof Aisling McMahon on PatentsInHumans Project examining the potential impact of patents on access to health
The April edition of the Law Society Gazette in Ireland features as its cover story an article...
Prof Aisling McMahon & Dr Opeyemi Kolawole present PatentsInHumans papers at the SLSA conference at the University of Portsmouth
On 27 March 2024, Prof Aisling McMahon & Dr Opeyemi Kolawole presented three papers based on...
PatentsInHumans Team publish Year 1 Report
The PatentsInHumans team are delighted to publish our first annual report today. In this report,...
Professor Aisling McMahon (Principal Investigator, PatentsInHumans project) invited to join Editorial Advisory Board of the Medical Law Review
Professor Aisling McMahon (Principal Investigator, PatentsInHumans) has been invited to join the...
Professor Aisling McMahon (Principal Investigator, PatentsInHumans project) is awarded Irish Research Council Early Career Researcher of the Year Award
In November 2023, Professor Aisling McMahon (Principal Investigator, PatentsInHumans) was awarded...
Prof Aisling McMahon invited to speak at ‘Regulation of Innovative Health Technologies’ Workshop at the University of Tasmania
Professor Aisling McMahon was invited to speak at an international interdisciplinary workshop on...
Prof Aisling McMahon speaks at Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law at Queensland University of Technology
Professor Aisling McMahon recently delivered a paper at the International Australasian Association...