SWAIN, SCARLETT,OLIVIA (2025) Meating the Climate Challenge: Tissue Engineered Meat, Patents, Utilitarianism and Biotechnological Solutions. Doctoral thesis, Durham University.
| Full text not available from this repository. Author-imposed embargo until 02 June 2028. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives 2.0 UK: England & Wales (CC BY-ND). |
Abstract
This thesis examines how patent law can shape the future of sustainable food, focusing on tissue engineered meat as a case study in biotechnological innovation. It explores the legal and political forces that have historically protected conventional meat and dairy industries, and considers how similar resistance may emerge against tissue engineered meat. Central to the analysis are exclusions from patentability under European Patent Convention (EPC) and United Kingdom (UK) law. Additionally, the thesis draws on the philosophy of utilitarianism, especially that of John Stuart Mill, to argue that patent protection is justified when it promotes socially beneficial innovation. In this context, the socially beneficial aim is defined primarily by environmentalism. It concludes that the patent system can play a vital role in supporting a more sustainable food system.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Award: | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Keywords: | Tissue Engineered Meat, Cultivated Meat, Patents, Intellectual Property Law, Biotechnology |
| Faculty and Department: | Faculty of Social Sciences and Health > Law, Department of |
| Thesis Date: | 2025 |
| Copyright: | Copyright of this thesis is held by the author |
| Deposited On: | 03 Jun 2025 08:44 |
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