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04/12/2008
The Enlarged Board of Appeal has adopted a decision related to embryonic stem cell patents.
The Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA) of the European Patent Office (EPO) recently adopted a ruling related to the so-called WARF/Thomson stem cell application.
This patent application describes a method to obtain embryonic stem cell cultures from primates, including humans, and was filed by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) in 1995.
The EBoA has decided that under the European Patent Convention it is not possible to grant a patent for an invention that requires the use and destruction of human embryos. The EBoA stressed, however, that its decision does not concern the general question of human stem cell patentability.
Related Links:
Related news item in EPO Web site
Related news item in IPR-Helpdesk:
28/04/2008. European Union. The Commission publishes the catalogue of FP6 projects involving stem cells
28/08/2006. United States. A company has announced a technique for obtaining human embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos
IPR-Helpdesk is a constituent part of the IP Awareness and Enforcement: Modular Based Actions for SMEs project (IPeuropAware) which is financed by the CIP Programme, DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission
