Faculty Contact Details
Room: S17, 17 Mill L
Tel: 01223330088
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Interests
Intellectual property; patent law; patent practice; patent strategy; commercialisation; translational research; copyright; confidential information; biotechnology; pharmaceuticals; diagnostics; drug repurposing; precision medicine; 3D printers; regulation of innovation; regulation of information; empirical research; doctrinal research
CV / Biography
I am broadly interested in the development and use of new technology as it has the ability to: drive economies forward, increase public welfare and resolve important social problems. Much of my research focuses on the ability of patent law to meet its welfare-enhancing goal of accelerating the creation of new technology. In biotechnology and life-sciences — special interests of mine — this focus is particularly important, but it is also complicated; although patents can operate as incentives, they have numerous trade-offs. Smart innovation policy requires meticulous, transnational doctrinal research and robust empirical data. As a lawyer with scientific training, I strive to deliver both. My research has been funded by the Wellcome Trust, the Philomathia Foundation, and Cancer Research UK, amongst others.
In 2018, Dr Kathy Liddell, Professor Mateo Aboy and I finished a project titled ‘Realising Genomic Medicine: Intellectual Property Issues Beyond the “Old” DNA Patent Debates’. See here for more detail.
We are now working on a project investigating the legal incentives surrounding the development of new uses for known drugs, commonly known as drug repurposing, a field of research in which scientists develop new medical uses for known drugs. Developing repurposed drugs is often quicker, cheaper and more likely to receive government authorisation than developing new drugs (from discovery), predominantly because much is already known about repurposed drugs’ safety and effectiveness. Consequently, they are an attractive proposition for both governments and drug companies in societies that desire new treatments at low prices.
Despite the attractions of repurposing drugs, many experts argue that too few drugs are repurposed. A key reason for this shortfall, they argue, is that the law fails to sufficiently incentivise them. As a result, they suggest, amongst other things, that patent law and/or regulatory exclusivities should be amended to remedy the situation. Perhaps unsurprisingly, other experts oppose these arguments, insisting that the suggested amendments would have the opposite effect, raising drug prices and reducing treatment options.
This research project aims to inform and resolve this debate through novel doctrinal research and innovative empirical methods.
The project is part of the wider CeBIL research programme, and we work closely with our collaborators in Copenhagen, Harvard and Michigan.
Publications
Books
The Innovation Pool in Biotechnology: The Role of Patents in Facilitating Innovation (with Nicol, D, Nielsen, J, Critchley, C, Whitton, T,), 2014)
Articles
"The Effects of Myriad and Mayo on Molecular Test Development in the US and Europe: Interviews from the Frontline" (forthcoming 2020) Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law
"How does emerging patent case law in the US and Europe affect precision medicine?" Forthcoming, Nature Biotechnology
"International Divergence in Gene Patenting" (2019) 20 Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics 1
"Mayo’s impact on patent applications related to biotech, diagnostics, and personalized medicine?" (2019) 37(5) Nature Biotechnology 513
"Continental Drift? Do European Clinical Genetics Laboratories have a Patent Problem?" (2019) 27 European Journal of Human Genetics 997
"Was the Myriad Decision a ‘Surgical Strike on Isolated DNA Patents, or Does it Have Wider Impacts?" (2018) 36(12) Nature Biotechnology 1146
"Provenance and Risk in Transfer of Biological Materials" (13 August 2018) PLOS Biology
"Divided Performance of Patented Methods in Australia: A Call to Codify Procured Infringement" (2018) 41(1) University of New South Wales Law Review 252
"Key Challenges in Bringing CRISPR-Mediated Somatic Cell Therapy into the Clinic" (2017) 9 Genome Medicine 85
"After Myriad, what makes a gene patent claim 'markedly different' from nature?" (2017) 35 Nature Biotechnology 820
"Standing on the Edge – What Type of “Exclusive Licensees” Should be Able to Initiate Patent Infringement Actions?" (2017) 48 IIC - International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law 626
"The Multiple Dimensions of Intellectual Property Infringement in the 3D Printing Era" (2017) 27 Australian Intellectual Property Journal 184
"Myriad's Impact on Gene Patents" (2016) 34 Nature Biotechnology 1119
"The Examination Effect: A Comparison of the Outcome of Patent Examination in the US, Europe and Australia" (2016) 16 John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law 21
"Precision Medicine: Drowning in Regulatory Soup?" (2016) 3(2) Journal of Law and the Biosciences 281
"Three Dimensions of Patent Infringement: Liability for Creation and Distribution of CAD Files" (2016) 26 Australian Intellectual Property Journal 165
"Reluctance Realised? Emerging Problems with s 117(2)(b) Patents Act 1990 (Cth)" (2015) 41 Monash Law Review 163
"Are the Gene-Patent Storm Clouds Dissipating? A Global Snapshot" (2015) 33(4) Nature Biotechnology 347
"Another Missed Opportunity to Reform Use of Patents Without Authorisation in Australia" (2014) 25 Australian Intellectual Property Journal 74
"Re-Evaluating Innocent Infringement in Australia: Patent Numbers and Virtual Marking" (2014) 25 Australian Intellectual Property Journal 18
"Sharing the Burden in Australian Drug Discovery and Development: Collaborative Trends in Translational Research" (2014) 3 Intellectual Property Quarterly 181
"Time to Get Serious About Privacy Policies: the Special Case of Genetic Privacy" (2014) 42 Federal Law Review 149
"Re-evaluating False Patent Marking in Australia" (2013) 22(2) Journal of Law, Information and Science 128
"Do patents impede the provision of genetic tests in Australia?" (2013) 37 Australian Health Review 281
"A role for Virtual Biotechnology Companies in Drug Discovery and Development?" (2013) 19 Journal of Commercial Biotechnology 10
"Legislating to Exclude Gene Patents: Difficult and Unhelpful, or Useful and Feasible?" (2012) 22(1) Journal of Law and Information Science 32
Book Chapters
"IP Policies for Large Bioresources: the Fiction, Fantasy and Future of Openness" (with Liddell, K. & Jordan, M.), Global Genes. Local Concerns (Edward Elgar, 2019)
"Australia" (with Christie, A ), Balancing Copyright - A Survey of National Approaches (Springer-Verlag, 2012)
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