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EU Rejects Stem Cell Patent Applications
SOURCE: University of Wisconsin-Madison
A colony of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells.
At the end of last week, Reuters reported that the European Patent Office issued its final ruling rejecting a patent application for the stem cell technology based on the work of James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin. Filed in 1995 by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the patent, according to the EPO release “describes a method for obtaining embryonic stem cell cultures from primates, including humans.”
The release also indicates that the decision was based on moral prescriptions within the European Patent Convention, as well as explicit proscriptions against patents on commercial use of human embryos:
The EPC does not allow patenting inventions whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to public order (“ordre public”) or morality. Furthermore, the Convention prohibits patenting on uses of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes.
The Scientist reports that the ruling comes as a relief to European researchers and presents a potential stumbling block for biotech companies set to capitalize on commercial stem cell technologies.
As of March 2008, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had issued final decisions upholding two out of three patents on the technology in the United States, though WARF eased licensing protocols for the patents after the challenges.
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