Embryonic Stem Cell Patents: European Patent Law and Ethics - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199543461 ISBN 13: 9780199543465

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2010

Synopsis

Stem cell research, and particularly embryonic stem cell research, while 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, while 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 analyzes 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.

About this title

About the Author

Edited by Aurora Plomer, Chair in Law and Bioethics, Director of Sheffield Institute of Biotechnology Law and Ethics, University of Sheffield, and Paul Torremans, City Solicitors' Educational Trust Professor of Intellectual Property Law, School of Law, University of Nottingham; Professor of Private International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ghent

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).

Review

"The book edited by Plomer and Torremans should be a compulsory reading for everyone interested in stem cell patenting in Europe. The essays of this book present the most thorough and complete analysis of the statutory and case law situation in this field in Europe."
--Joseph Straus, IP Max Planck Institute Munich

"There is more discussion in this text on stem-cell patents that an enthusiast could ever dream about"
--Anna Feros, European Intellectual Property Review

"A valuable read for students of IP, medical law, and for practitioners seeking a deeper understanding of rules they are working within. A fascinating and insightful collection"
--Leanne Bell, Medical Law Review

"An important read for any person interested in stem cell..patenting..Plomer and Torremans are to be complimented on a well-chosen set of essays,clearly written and logically presented"
--Ashley W. Roughton, Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice

"Plomer and Torremans collection helpfully concentrates the mind on a number of key questions"
--Roger Brownsword, Modern Law Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0199543461
• ISBN 13: 9780199543465
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 482
• Editor: Plomer Aurora, Torremans Paul