Brussels, Belgium
October 14, 2002

The European Commission has published (10th October) its first annual report on the development and implications of patent law for biotechnology and genetic engineering. "EuropaBio has been looking forward to this report which is an important part of the legal requirements of the biotech patent directive (98/44)," says Bo Hammer Jensen, Chairman of the Intellectual Property Working Group at EuropaBio - the European Association of Bioindustries.

The report highlights four key provisions of this directive (compatibility with international agreements, patentability of plants and animals, the patentability of elements isolated from the human body or otherwise produced and the exclusions from patentability provided in Article 6 of the Directive). It is intended to accelerate implementation of the directive in all Member States. The report also comments on some of the controversial issues currently under discussion in the Member States.

The report affirms the view of EuropaBio that these issues do not provide any basis for delaying the implementation.

EuropaBio and its members participated constructively in the 10 year long debate with Parliament and Council that led to the approval in 1998 of this directive. "These issues were all under consideration during the review of the directive, and it is high time now that this important tool for protecting our innovations is put in place in all Member States," says Hugo Schepens, EuropaBio Secretary General. "If future annual reports identify specific problem areas, these problems can then be dealt with."

The report identifies two questions for more detailed analysis:

• the scope of patents for sequences or partial-sequences of genes isolated from the human body;
• the patentability of human stem cells and cell lines obtained from them.

In preparation of the next report in 2003, these topics will be studied and analysed by a group of independent experts to be established this November. The group will also support the Commission in identifying priority topics to be dealt with in future reports. EuropaBio welcomes this initiative and
offers its cooperation to the group.

"EuropaBio is supportive of Commission efforts in urging those Member States that have not yet implemented the directive to do so immediately" says Hugo Schepens. "More than two years past the implementation deadline, only six countries have done so. Entrepreneurs and researchers in the EU need the best and simplest patenting tools possible. Without them, you cannot be serious about the knowledge-based economy."

Commission report can be downloaded at:
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/indprop/invent/index.htm