Staff profile

Mike Adcock is a Lecturer at the Department of Law, Durham University. He obtained a PhD in plant sciences from the University of Sheffield in 1992 and worked for many years in science on a variety of projects. In 1999 he moved to the School of Law, University of Sheffield, to work on an EU funded project entitled Plant Intellectual Property (PIP). The main aim of the PIP project was to look at the attitudes towards and use of, intellectual property rights by the European plant breeding community. He gained a postgraduate qualification in Law in May 2003 from Nottingham University. While at the University of Sheffield, he co-ordinated several projects funded from a variety of sources including “Bioethics-Today” a web based resource covering all aspects of bioethics in relation to modern biotechnology, “Bioethical Issues of Intellectual Property Rights” a project aimed at facilitating ethical, legal and social discussions within a multidisciplinary fora and “Co-Extra” looking into the legal issues surrounding the coexistence and traceability of genetically modified organisms. He is a co-author of a report entitled “Intellectual Property Rights and Genetics” which was published in July 2003. The study, funded by the UK’s Department of Health looked into the impact and management of intellectual property rights within the healthcare sector. He was co-author of a report on “The Use of Patents by Governments: A Comparative Study of Compulsory Licences and Government Use” commission in 2005 by Health Canada.

Teaching Areas

Intellectual Property and Biotechnology Relationship between science, law and bioethics.

• Intellectual property rights (IPRs) and biotechnology
• IPRs and access to medicines
• Protection of plant genetic resources
• IPRs and bioethics

Authored book

• Llewelyn, M., & Adcock, M. (2006). European Plant Intellectual Property. Hart Publishing

Chapter in book

• Adcock, M., & Beyleveld, D. (2022). Morality and Intellectual Property Law Through the Lens of Human Rights. In C. Godt, G. Van Overwalle, L. Guibault, & D. Beyleveld (Eds.), Boundaries of Information Property (121-147). Intersentia
• Adcock, M., & Kinderlerer, J. (2005). The Detail of Law relating to Modern Biotechnology. In H. Landeweerd, & T. Meulen (Eds.), BioTechnology-Ethics (189-194). Angelo Pontecorboli Editore
• Adcock, M. (2005). The Relationship between IP and other Biotech Law. In Bio Technology-Ethics (195-200). Angelo Pontecorboli Editore
• Adcock., M., & Kinderlerer, J. (2004). The Regulation of Genomics: What did we learn from the GMO story?. In J. Nap, A. Atanassov, & W. Stiekema (Eds.), Genomics for Biosafety in Plant Biotechnology (223-246). IOS Press
• Adcock, M., & Kinderlerer, J. (2003). Agricultural Biotechnology, Politics, Ethics and Policy. In Biotechnology, Agriculture and Food Security in Southern Africa (71-112). International Food Policy Research Institute

Conference Paper

• Adcock, M. (2005, December). The Experimental Use Exception, Ethical Issues in Biotechnology R&D and Technology Transfer. Presented at The Experimental Use Exception, Ethical Issues in Biotechnology R&D and Technology Transfer., Tokyo, Japan

Journal Article

• Adcock, M., & Beyleveld, D. (2016). Morality in Intellectual Property Law: A Concept-Theoretic Framework. Intellectual property rights. Open access, 4(1), Article 154. https://doi.org/10.4172/2375-4516.1000154
• Adcock, M. (2007). Intellectual property, genetically modified crops and bioethics. Biotechnology Journal, 2(9), 1088-1092. https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.200700090
• Adcock, M., & Beyleveld, D. (2007). Purposive Interpretation and the Regulation of Technology: Legal Constructs, Legal Fictions, and the Rule of Law. Medical Law International, 8(4), 305-324
• Adcock, M. (2005). The Relationship between Intellectual Property and Biotechnology Law
• Adcock, M. (2002). Farmers' Right or Privilege?. Bio-science Law Review, 5(3), 90-93
• Adcock, M., & Llewelyn, M. (2001). TRIPs and the Patentability of Micro-Organisms. Bio-science Law Review, 4(3), 91-101

Other (Print)

• Adcock, M., & Llewelyn, M. (2000). Micro-organisms, Definitions and Options under TRIPs

Report

• Adcock, M., Burton, A., Hunt, A., Odell, P., & Swiecka, J. (2005). Report on The Use of Patents by Governments: A Comparative Study of Compulsory Licences and Government Use, for Health Canada. [No known commissioning body]
• Cornish, W., Llewelyn, M., & Adcock, M. (2003). and Genetics - A Study into the Impact and Management of Intellectual Property Rights within the Healthcare Sector. [No known commissioning body]