Recent restrictions on the patentability of human embryonic stem cell inventions in Europe necessitate a shift in R&D strategies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
EPO. Enlarged Board of Appeal, WARF, G02/06. (November 25, 2008).
Paton, M. & Denoon, A. Eur. Intellect. Prop. Rev. 33, 590–596 (2011).
Court of Justice of the European Union, Grand Chamber, Brüstle v. Greenpeace eV, C-34/10, October 18, 2011.
Moran, N. Nat. Biotechnol. 29, 1057–1059 (2011).
EPO. Boards of Appeal, Technion Research and Development Foundation Ltd., T2221/10. (February 4, 2014).
Mahalatchimy, A. et al. Eur. Intellect. Prop. Rev. (in the press).
Harmon, S.H.E., Laurie, G. & Courtney, A. Eur. Law Rev. 38, 92–106 (2013).
Wilmut, I. Cell Stem Cell 9, 498–499 (2011).
European Council. Political agreement on the 7th research framework programme: European Community (2007–2013), Brussels (European Council, 2006).
Bonadio, E. Eur. Intellect. Prop. Rev. 34, 433–443 (2012).
Koch, N.J., Baum, E. & Trounson, A. Cell Stem Cell 9, 499–500 (2011).
Schuster, M.I. Int. Rev. Intellect. Prop. Competition Law 43, 626–640 (2012).
Klimanskaya, I. et al. Nature 444, 481–485 (2006).
US Supreme Court. Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, 569 US 12–398 (June 13, 2013).
German Federal Court case law, BGH, Urteil vom 27. November 2012, Az. X ZR 58/07, §31 and 43, November 27, 2012.
European Patent Convention (5 October 1973; 15th edition as amended in October 2013).
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank K. Holz for her help in understanding German Federal Court case law. This work has been partially supported by REGenableMED, UK ESRC Project ES/L002779/1, and by EUCelLEX FP7 program, grant agreement no. 601806. We also thank the editors/reviewers for their constructive comments which helped us to improve the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mahalatchimy, A., Rial-Sebbag, E., Duguet, AM. et al. The impact of European embryonic stem cell patent decisions on research strategies. Nat Biotechnol 33, 41–43 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3105
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3105
- Springer Nature America, Inc.
This article is cited by
-
A “Ray of Hope” for European Stem Cell Patents or “Out of the Smog into the Fog”? An Analysis of Recent European Case Law and How it Compares to the US
IIC - International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law (2016)