Living matter: treatment methods, the human body... what can be patented?

In practice, inventions involving living organisms are not de facto excluded from patentability. However, statistics from the European Patent Office (EPO) show that less than 30% of European patent applications filed in the field of biotechnology actually result in a patent being granted.

This particularly low rate is explained by the desire to maintain a balance between patent rights and the ethical considerations raised by this type of invention.

This fact sheet describes the particularities of the patentability of living organisms and, more specifically, of inventions relating to :

• treatments applied to the human body ;

• human beings and their derivatives.

The patentability of inventions relating to plants and animals is the subject of a specific fact sheet ( cf . Living matter: how to protect inventions involving plants and animals? [FIC 1646] ).