Exclusion of Patentability of Embryonic Stem Cells in Europe: Another Restriction by the European Patent Office.

The article focuses on a decision held by the European Patent Office (EPO) regarding the exclusion of patentability of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) in a case involving the Technion Research and Development Foundation in 2014. According to the EPO, it is unacceptable under the European Patent Convention (EPC) to patent inventions using hESC obtained either by de novo destruction of human embryos or from publicly available hESC lines originally derived by a process that destroys the embryo.