European Court Opens Door for Stem Cell Patenting

Today the European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruled that human embryonic stem cell patents could be allowed if organisms can't develop into human being. The decision overturns a 2011 European Union ruling that outlawed patents on hESC research, affirming that pluripotent human stem cells derived from parthoenogenetically activated oocytes can be patented in Europe.

Parthenogenesis refers to the initiation of embryogenesis without fertilization by oocyte activation in the absence of sperm though a variety of chemical and electrical techniques. The activated oocyte contains a single or double set of maternally derived chromosomes but does not contain paternal DNA.

While patents on hESC have been upheld in the United States, the European Patent Office (EPO) has refused to grant many of the same patents on ethical grounds if the commercial exploitation of those patents goes against public order or morality. Combined with a principle of noncommercialization of the human embryo, human body, and its products led Europe to deny the patentability of hESC.

Today’s judgment was precipitated though an appeal brought by International Stem Cell Corporation (ISC), a California-based biotechnology company...