Stem Cell Lines and Destruction of Human Embryos: the EPO Shares the Perspective of the Court of Justice.

The Technical Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office, in case T 2221/101, held that Article 53(a) and Rule 28(c) of the European Patent Convention do not merely exclude the patentability of biotechnological inventions that make use of human embryonic stem cells obtained by de novo destruction of human embryos, but also apply to inventions which employ publicly available cell lines which were initially derived by a process resulting in the destruction of human embryos. The decision relies on the judgment of the Enlarged Board of Appeal in the WARF case, falling in line with the perspective endorsed by the Court of Justice of the European Union in Oliver Brüstle v Green peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]