Tuesday, March 28, 2023 - 16:15
Call for Papers: Conference – The Biotechnology Directive at 25: A Reflection on its Past, Present and Future
Location: Maynooth University, Ireland
Date: Thursday 14th September 2023 – Friday 15th September 2023
2023 marks the 25th Anniversary of the EU’s Biotechnology Directive 98/44EC which has had a radical impact
on the patentability of biotechnological inventions across Europe, with important legal, ethical and social
implications for the access, development and use of new technologies.
This two-day conference aims to assess the role, operation and impact of the Biotechnology Directive at 25
years, including its legal, ethical, and social implications for the patentability of biotechnological inventions,
and to explore the future likely challenges for the Directive, particularly in the context of addressing issues
posed by emerging and future technologies, and changes to the European patent decision-making system.
The organisers welcome proposals on any aspect of the Biotechnology Directive, including but not limited to:
• The extent to which the Biotechnology Directive has addressed the legal, (bio)ethical and social
issues that have been posed by patents over biotechnological inventions;
• The extent to which recent changes to the institutions of the European patent system, including the
(imminent) adoption of the EU unitary patent system, will pose challenges/opportunities for how
issues within the Biotechnology Directive are engaged with, if at all;
• The challenges likely to be posed in the next 25 years for the operation of the Directive in respect
to the legal/ethical/social issues posed by patents on emerging biotechnological inventions;
• The extent to which the Biotechnology Directive can effectively foresee and account for the
legal/ethical/social issues posed by future inventions and what reforms, if any, are needed.
Intellectual property academics, practitioners and those interested in the regulation of biotechnological
inventions are encouraged to apply. We particularly welcome submissions from PhD students and early
career researchers (ECRs).
Selected papers from the workshop will be published in a peer reviewed edited collection and details
regarding the submission of accepted papers will be distributed in due course.
To submit a proposal for a presentation, applicants must submit an abstract of 500 words (maximum) to
[email protected] by 5pm on 2nd May 2023. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of
their application by email in early June 2023.
Cost of event:
There is no registration fee to attend the conference. Lunch and refreshments will be provided on both days,
as well as a formal dinner on Thursday 14th September. Participants will be asked to cover their own travel
and accommodation costs. The event will be held at Maynooth University, which is in a university town
located approx. 35 minutes from Dublin Airport with direct public transport links to the Airport and the City.
There are limited funds available to support the attendance of PhD, ECRs and other researchers who have no
alternative institutional funding to attend. To apply to this fund, please state in your application that you
would like to be considered for such support.
Organised by Naomi Hawkins, Aisling McMahon and Karen Walsh, with the support of:
