Dr Aisling McMahon delivers paper on ‘Biotechnology and Patents as Private Governance Tools: The Good, the Bad and the Potential for Ugly?’ at the Wellcome Collection, London 25th October.

Tuesday, October 23, 2018 - 09:45

Dr Aisling McMahon was invited to deliver a paper at a conference in the Wellcome Collection, London on 25th October as part of a two-day event organised by Dr David Lawrence and Dr Sarah Morley (Newcastle University) on the theme of “Regulating the Tyrell Corporation- Company law and the Emergence of Novel Beings”. Her paper ‘Biotechnology and Patents as Private Governance Tools: The Good, the Bad and the Potential for Ugly?’ considered the role of patent law acting as a control device in shaping advanced biotechnological inventions, and the regulation (or lack thereof) of patent holders’ (often companies) use of patented technologies and licensing powers in relation to such technologies. Dr McMahon writes primarily on medical law and the relationship between health and patent law. Her work in the patent field includes a 2017 article examining the role of the morality provisions in the planned European unitary patent system. She also blogs about her research, including recent work on the impact of gene patenting on access to diagnostic testing as part of a broader British Academy funded project on the subject. Dr McMahon is a lecturer in Maynooth University Department of Law and teaches equity and trusts and a new module on Contemporary issues in Medicine and the Law