Posted for Asher Mullard

A European agency has rejected an appeal for a patent on developing human embryonic stem cells.

The proposed patent, submitted by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, sought to protect a method used to culture embryonic stem cells, developed by stem cell pioneer James Thomson.

“Decisive in the [appeal board] ruling was the application’s claim regarding human stem cell cultures,” says a statement from the European Patent Office. “The [board] decided that under the European Patent Convention it is not possible to grant a patent for an invention which necessarily involves the use and destruction of human embryos.”

The EPO also notes that the convention “does not allow patenting inventions whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to public order or morality”.

While Reuters claims that the decision not to overturn an earlier ruling “could keep some companies from jumping into the sector and steer investors to put their money elsewhere” not everybody agrees.

Robin Lovell-Badge, head of stem cell research at National Institute for Medical Research, UK, told the Guardian that this ruling will make it easier for biotechnology companies to operate in Europe than in the United States, where similar patents have been granted. “I can imagine there will be sighs of relief,” he says.

The Guardian also notes that many companies are filing stem cell patents on a country-by-country basis, rather than going through the EPO.