Karen Walsh guest edits Special issue by Patent Scholars Network Members of the European Intellectual Property Review

Dr Karen Walsh, together with Professor Aisling McMahon (Maynooth University) and Professor Naomi Hawkins (University of Sheffield), co-founders of the UK and Ireland Patent Scholars Network, have recently guest edited a Special Issue of the European Intellectual Property Review published in March 2022 hosting peer reviewed contributions from Network Members.

The Special Issue on the topic of “Patents in a Changing Europe” comprises four articles. It includes a range of topics examining issues at the cutting-edge of how the European Patent system is grappling with the legal, social and technological changes it currently faces.

Dr Louise Hatherall (University of Bristol) examines “Procedural issues in public interest patent challenges”; Dr Cliona Kelly and Rachel Claire Brady (University College Dublin) discuss “Research ethics and the patent system”; Professor Duncan Matthews (Queen Mary, University of London) reflects on “The Covid-19 pandemic: lessons for the European patent system”; and Wissam Aoun (University of Windsor) considers “‘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 reflecting 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 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 Dr Karen Walsh.