3. Can an invention involving the human body, its elements or derivatives be patented?
3.1 Prohibition principle
The rules applicable to inventions relating to the human body derive from the transposition into French law of the directive 98/44/CE relative à la protection juridique des inventions biotechnologiques . At European patent level, these rules are mirrored in the European Patent Convention. The EPO, which is not legally bound by the Directive, therefore applies the rules of the Convention, although the Directive constitutes a "means of interpretation" of the text.
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Can an invention involving the human body, its elements or derivatives be patented?
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Bibliography
Also in our database
Bibliography
Joanna Schmidt-Szalewski – Caroline Rodà, Répertoire de droit européen, Brevet, 2014 (update: 2017), Dalloz.
The patentability of living matter, B. Orès, F. Paris,...
Regulations
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Code de la propriété intellectuelle
articles L. 611-10, L. 611-16, L. 611-17, L. 611-18
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