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4-5 September | Hosted and organsied by the Von Hügel Institute, St. Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge
Patents are monopoly ownerships for commercial exploitation and can also apply to living matter, from genes to plants and seeds, microorganisms through to animals. Should control of living matter be in the hands of private corporations? Are patents on seeds defensible in developing countries? Should information on the human genome be privatised? Who should decide on when a patent should be forbidden on grounds of immorality?
This unique interdisciplinary conference will feature top Vatican officials, academics, lawyers, industry professionals, theologians, and representatives of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops discussing the ethical issues around the patenting of life forms.
Who should attend?
Lawyers and patent attorneys,* theologians, bioethicists, social and political scientists, environmentalists, life scientists and students of law, religion and social justice.
*This event is accredited with 11 hours of CPD by the Law Society and the Bar Standards Board
Distinguished speakers include:
- H.E. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations in Geneva
- The Hon Mr Justice Richard Arnold, Judge of the High Court of England and Wales
- Mons. Osvaldo Neves de Almeida, Vatican Head of Intellectual Property
- Stephen Colecchi, Director of the Office of International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
- Dr Michael Kock, Head of Global IP, Syngenta Prof David Albert Jones of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford
Follow this link to register
email: vhi-conference@st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk
Early-bird rates until 25 May: £220 (inc. refreshments, lunches and gala dinner on Friday) | student: £130 (gala dinner not included).