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What is the effect and purpose of the Press Notice of the European Patent Office of 29 June 2017 relating to plants and animals exclusively obtained by an essentially biological breeding process?

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Published on: 09 January 2018
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Directive 98/44/EC, the Biotechnology Directive (enacted in Schedule A2 to the Patents Act 1977 (PA 1977)) makes it clear that simply because an Application for a patent involves a product consisting of or containing biological material or a process by which biological material is produced, processed or used does not mean that no patent may be granted. Also, biological material which is isolated from its natural environment or produced by means of a technical process may be the subject of an invention even if it previously occurred in nature. However, PA 1977, Sch A2 sets out things which may not be patented. The list is extensive and exhaustive and states:

‘…any variety of animal or plant or any essentially biological process for the production of animals or plants, not being a micro-biological or other technical process or the product of such a process…[is not a patentable invention]’

The

Ashley Roughton
Ashley Roughton

Ipchambers.eu

Ashley Roughton is an intellectual property barrister who specialises in all aspects of Intellectual Property Law and associated areas of Competition Law. He is a graduate chemist and has postgraduate specialisms in biochemistry.

Ashley has appeared in the European Court of Justice, the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeal (both criminal and civil), the High Court (Chancery and Queen's Bench Divisions), the Divisional Court (both civil and criminal), the County Court (both general and patents) the Crown Court, the magistrates' court, the trade marks registry and the patent office.

Chambers & Partners 2012
In Intellectual Property: "Ashley Roughton has a broad practice that takes in both technically demanding patent work and complex trade mark litigation. He is known for his discreet handling of sensitive issues, and in recent times he has been engaged in a series of disputes relating to design rights of various types."

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Key definition:
Notice definition
What does Notice mean?

In a contractual context, a notice may be to terminate the agreement, or may be the notice required to do a certain thing under the contract. Notices usually must comply with certain formalities set out in the contract, and certain time limits.

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