Professor Naomi Hawkins (University of Sheffield) together with Professor Aisling McMahon (Maynooth University) and Dr Karen Walsh (Exeter University), co-founders of the UK and Ireland Patent Scholars Network, have recently guest edited a Special Issue of the European Intellectual Property Review journal published in March 2022 which hosts peer reviewed contributions from Network Members.
The Special Issue on the topic of ‘Patents in a Changing Europe’ comprises four articles from Network members, on a range of topics which examine issues at the cutting-edge of how the European Patent system is grappling with legal, social and technological changes it currently faces. These four articles, are as follows: Dr Louise Hatherhall’s (Bristol University) article examines “Procedural issues in public interest patent challenges” ; Dr Cliona Kelly’s and Rachel Claire Brady’s (UCD) article “Research ethics and the patent system”; Professor Duncan Matthews’s (Queen Mary Intellectual Property Institute) article entitled “The Covid-19 pandemic: lessons for the European patent system”; and Wissam Aoun’s (University of Windsor) article entitled “"Pith and marrow is dead...long live pith and marrow": the doctrine of equivalents after Actavis”.
The Special Issue also features an editorial written by Dr Karen Walsh, Professor Aisling McMahon and Professor Naomi Hawkins which reflects on key aspects of how the current European patent system is affected by contemporary technological, legal and social developments. In this context, the editors call for greater critical reflection and dialogue within—and outside—the patent community, around the role and operation of patent law, to ensure it is fit for purpose and best aligned with the public interests at stake in our current society.
The UK and Ireland Patent Scholars Network was founded in 2019, with inaugural network workshops held at the University of Exeter in April 2019, and Maynooth University in June 2019. The network has since grown to over forty members of leading patent academics and practitioners.
For further details on the network please contact n.l.hawkins@sheffield.ac.uk