Patenting of Human Genes and Living Organisms The Current Practice of the European Patent Office

Abstract

The European Patent Office is an intergovernmental organisation with now seventeen Contracting States and the underlying purpose of the existence of the Office is that protection of inventions may be obtained in these states by a single procedure for the grant of patents. Thus, the Office is an authority responsible for the examination of patent applications and the grant of presumptively valid patents. There are two legal instances in the Office, the Examining and Opposition Divisions on the one hand and the Boards of Appeals on the other. In this contribution reference is made to Decisions of the Boards which normally have guiding function for the first instance in certain matters of law.