Embryonic Stem Cell Patents

European Patent Law and Ethics
Erscheinungsjahr 2009
ISBN: 978-0-19-954346-5
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 482 Seiten, Format (B × H): 163 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 860 g

Stem cell research, and particularly embryonic stem cell research, whilst offering the prospect of developing theories for serious life-threatening diseases, also raises a number of difficult and controversial moral questions. This is reflected in a variety of moral perspectives and regulatory regimes, already adopted or in the process of being developed, in EU Member States. In particular the "moral exclusion" clause in Article 6 of the EC Directive on the legal
protection of biotechnological inventions has created much uncertainty in this field.

This collection of original essays provides comprehensive analysis of the EU patent system as applied to biotechnological inventions and particularly stem cell research, dealing with the overlapping EPC, EU, international and national law regimes bearing on the exclusion of patents in a morally fragmented and contested field. In this multidisciplinary study, the editors aim to clarify the legal scope of Article 6, which they deem essential for the fostering of research and investment in Europe,
whilst ensuring that such research is conducted within clear ethical limits which address the concerns of society.

As well as a complete overview of the application of the European patent law in the field of human embryonic stem cells, topics covered include legal and philosophical accounts of the boards of the European Court of Justice and European Patent Offices' reasoning in the leading litigated cases, as well as the institutional tensions between national and transnational European research and patent regimes. With its broad research in the fields of patent law, ethics and philosophy, the book analyses
a wide range of issues in a way no other book has previously done and suggests solutions to unblock the current stalemate surrounding the patentability of human embryonic stem cell related inventions. The book will be welcomed by a broad readership, including experts and academics in both ethical
and legal disciplines as well as policy makers and regulators in the field of embryonic stem cell research in Europe.

Zielgruppe

Academics specialising in intellectual property law and patent law; patent agents; lawyers working in government service, international agencies and the biotechnological industry; experts and academics in ethics, particularly bioethics and medical ethics; social scientists and those concerned about biotechnological developments; policy makers and regulators in the field, especially in embryonic stem cell research in Europe; reference libraries; postgraduate students.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Plomer, Aurora

Torremans, Paul

Fachgebiete

• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Medizin, Gesundheitswesen Medizinrecht, Gesundheitsrecht
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik
• Rechtswissenschaften Internationales Recht und Europarecht Europarecht Europäischer Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz, Medien-, IT- und Urheberrecht
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Beziehungen des Rechts zu anderen Disziplinen
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik
• Technische Wissenschaften Verfahrenstechnik | Chemieingenieurwesen | Biotechnologie Biotechnologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

PART I: BACKGROUND
1: Gerard Porter: The Drafting History of the European Biotechnology Directive
PART II: MORALITY, RESEARCH AND ETHICS
2: Rosario M. Isasi and Bartha M. Knoppers: Towards Commonality? Policy Approaches to Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in Europe
3: Josef Kure: Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in Central and Eastern Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Regulatory and Policy Approaches
4: Adrian Viens: Morality Provisions in Law Concerning the Commercialisation of Human Embryos and Stem Cells
PART III: EUROPEAN PATENT LAW
5: Åsa Hellstadius: A Comparative Analysis of the National Implementation of the Directive's Morality Clause
6: Paul Torremans: The Construction of the Directive's Moral Exclusions under the EPC
7: Aurora Plomer: Towards Systemic Legal Conflict: Article 6(2)© of the Biotech Directive
8: Aurora Plomer: Human Dignity, Human Rights and Article 6(1) of the Biotech Directive
9: Antonina Bakardjieva Engelbrekt: Jurisdictional and Institutional Aspects of Stem Cell Patenting in Europe (EC and EPO): Institutional and Jurisdictional Tensions of Stem Cells Patenting in Europe
10: Paul Torremans: A Transnational Institution Confronted with a Single Jurisdiction Model: Guidance for the EPO's Implementation of the Directive from a Private International Law Perspective
PART IV: WIDER ISSUES
11: Elodie Petit: An Ethics Committee for Patent Offices
12: Asa Hellstadius: The Research Exemption in Patent Law and ist Application to hES Cell Research
13: Gerard Porter: Human Embryos, Patents and Global Trade: Assessing the Scope and Contents of the TRIPS Morality Exception
14: Antonina Bakardjieva Engelbrekt: Stem Cells Patenting and Competition Law

Über Autor(innen)

Professor Dr Aurora Plomer is Chair in Law and Bioethics and the Director of Sheffield Institute of Biotechnology Law and Ethics at The University of Sheffield. She has a dual background in Philosophy and Law. She is the Coordinator of a European FP6 funded project: Stem Cell Patents: European Patent Law and Ethics.

Professor Dr Paul Torremans is City Solicitors' Educational Trust Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the School of Law of the University of Nottingham and Professor of Private International Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghent (Belgium).