Tag: Patents in Humans

Posted on

The ERC funded PatentsInHumans Project – Year One Project Report And Reflections!

Research Stream: Social Technologies

Authors: Professor Aisling McMahon, Principal Investigator (ERC PatentsInHumans Project) & Sinéad Masterson, Project Manager (ERC PatentsInHumans Project)

It is hard to believe that the PatentsInHumans Project has passed the one-year point having commenced in November 2022! And what a quick and busy year it was! Alongside recently publishing our Year 1 Report which gave us pause to reflect on the project, we were delighted to write this article for the IDEAS in ALL Blog to mark the first year of the project and to provide a snapshot of the research and other activities the PatentsInHumans team have undertaken during this time.

The PatentsInHumans Project:

Continue reading “The ERC funded PatentsInHumans Project – Year One Project Report And Reflections!”
Posted on

A Right to Repair for Medical Devices?

Social Technologies

Author: Dr Opeyemi Kolawole (Post-doctoral Researcher, PatentInHuman Project)

Dr Opeyemi Kolawole
Dr Opeyemi Kolawole

Medical devices are integral to healthcare service delivery. Patients and healthcare service providers utilise these devices to diagnose, prevent, monitor, alleviate, and restore impaired body functions. Depending on the complexities of these devices and how they are deployed, they can become integrated with the patient’s body, and the patient’s healthy functioning and life may become dependent on the device (for example, an insulin pump or a pacemaker). Yet, like every other device, medical devices are susceptible to wear and tear: embedded software in the device may become obsolete over time, and physical elements may become deficient, making a device unsuitable for the patient’s needs. What options are available to the patient or health service provider in such instances? Should they, or a trusted repairer, be allowed to repair these devices? Patients and hospitals confronted this question at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Continue reading “A Right to Repair for Medical Devices?”
Posted on

PatentsInHumans Public Launch Event: An Overview 

Social Lives 

Authors: Professor Aisling McMahon, Principal Investigator (PI) & Sinéad Masterson, Project Manager, PatentsInHumans

Professor Aisling McMahon presenting to attendees
Professor Aisling McMahon

On 20th April 2023, the PatentsInHumans team were delighted to host the public launch event for the European Research Council (ERC) funded PatentsInHumans project in Maynooth University. The event was attended by over 45 individuals, including, members of the public, students and academics working in a range of disciplines (including law, biology, political science and business), practising lawyers, and technology transfer specialists. 

The PatentsInHumans project, based in the School of Law and Criminology and ALL Institute at Maynooth University, commenced on the 1st November 2022 and is a large interdisciplinary five-year project. It is funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant and led by Professor Aisling McMahon. Alongside Professor McMahon, the PatentsInHumans team includes project manager, Sinéad Masterson, and postdoctoral researcher, Dr Opeyemi Kolawole. As the project develops, we will be recruiting more researchers to join the team in the coming months and years ahead. 

Continue reading “PatentsInHumans Public Launch Event: An Overview “
Posted on

PatentsInHumans ERC Project Commences: PatentsInHumans Explores the Bioethical Implications of Patents on Technologies Related to the Human Body

Social Structures

Author: Professor Aisling McMahon, Principal Investigator (PI), PatentsInHumans

Aisling McMahon profile picture
Aisling McMahon

On the 1st November 2022, the PatentsInHumans project based in the School of Law and Criminology and ALL Institute at Maynooth University commenced. PatentsInHumans is large interdisciplinary five-year project funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant. This project was one of 8 projects awarded to PIs based in Irish institutions,  under the ERC Starting grant scheme in 2021.  

This ERC funding will be used to build an interdisciplinary project team and will enable us to explore the core project research questions and aims, which span bioethics, science policy, law, and innovation. This team includes our project manager, Sinéad Masterson, and postdoctoral researcher, Opeyemi Kolawole, both of whom recently joined the team, and who will be joined in future by further postdoctoral and PhD researchers. Together, we will work to tackle the central project research question, which focuses on investigating what are the main bioethical implications posed by patents over ‘technologies’ related to the human body, and how are these bioethical issues accounted for, if at all, within European patent decision-making.

Continue reading “PatentsInHumans ERC Project Commences: PatentsInHumans Explores the Bioethical Implications of Patents on Technologies Related to the Human Body”
Skip to content