335:'inventions'. The directive, however, provides that "biological material which is isolated from its natural environment ... may be the subject of an invention even if it previously occurred in nature." It is clearly arguable that merely isolating a human gene or protein from its natural environment is not an activity that can come within the meaning of the word 'invention'. The Danish Council of Bioethics in its Patenting Human Genes and Stem Cells Report noted that "In the members' view, it cannot be said with any reasonableness that a sequence or partial sequence of a gene ceases to be part of the human body merely because an identical copy of the sequence is isolated from or produced outside of the human body." TRIPS applies to the European Community as it is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in its own right and accordingly must ensure "the conformity of its laws, regulations and administrative procedures with obligations as provided" by the WTO.
47:
317:, so in the second legislative process, the directive was adopted. The drafts person of the Parliament for this second procedure was Willi Rothley and the vote with the most yes votes was Amendment 9 from the Greens which got 221 against 294 votes out of 532 members voting with 17 abstentions but 314 yes votes would have been required to reach the required an absolute majority to adopt it.
334:
Nevertheless, the ECJ decision does not preclude a further test of the validity of the directive on the ground that it is inconsistent with the
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Art. 27.1 TRIPS provides that patents are only to be granted with respect to
312:
On 13 December 1995, the
Commission adopted a new proposal was nearly identical to the rejected version, was changed again, but the Parliament put aside its ethical concerns on patenting of human genes in on 12 July 1998 in its second reading and adopted the Common Position of the
338:
On 14 January 2002, the
Commission submitted an assessment of the implications for basic genetic engineering research of failure to publish, or late publication of, papers on subjects which could be patentable as required under Article 16(b) of this directive.
1127:
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for a pro-Directive campaign. Part of this campaign was direct support of patient charities and organisations. On the day of the July 1997 vote, a number of people in wheelchairs from these groups demonstrated outside the main hall in
17:
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1025:
738:
390:, decision of the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) of 25 November 2008, relating to (non-patentability of) inventions involving the use and destruction of human embryos.
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731:
958:
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Report from the
Commission to the Council and the European Parliament, Development and implications of patent law in the field of biotechnology and genetic engineering
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430:
475:
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360:, chanting the pharmaceutical industry's slogan, "No Patents, No Cure" in an emotional appeal to Parliamentarians to vote for the Directive.
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Baruch Brody, 2007. "Intellectual
Property and Biotechnology: The European Debate,” Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 17(2): 69–110.
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224:
Directive 98/44/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions
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Reports and other documents concerning
European Commission activities in the area of biotechnological inventions
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Rome
Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations
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against the adoption of the directive with six different pleas but the Court granted none of them.
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meeting at 3rd reading on 1 March 1995 so the first directive process did not yield a directive.
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The Big Mirage: The Misuse of the
Patient with Hereditary Diseases Before the EP's Vote in 1997
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As of 15 January 2007, all of the 27 EU member states had implemented the
Directive.
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in 1988. The procedure for its adoption was slowed down by primarily
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On 6 July 1998, a final version was adopted. Its code is 98/44/EC.
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Deposit, access and re-deposit of biological material (Chapter IV)
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Directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions
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Directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions
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from the Commission Directorate-General for the Internal Market
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from the Commission Directorate-General for the Internal Market
585:, Corporate Europe Observer, Issue 1, May 1998, citing ECOBP, "
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Directive on the patentability of biotechnological inventions
623:"State of Play of the Implementation of Directive 98/44/EC"
492:"intellectual property (TRIPS) – agreement text – contents"
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The Directive is divided into the following five chapters:
1123:
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
301:
issues regarding the patentability of living matter. The
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lobbyist Simon Gentry, the company allocated 30 million
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Société des Produits Nestlé S.A. v. Cadbury UK Limited
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Directive on the re-use of public sector information
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Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market
27:
European Union directive in the field of patent law
305:eventually rejected the joint text from the final
284:Final Provisions (entering into force) (Chapter V)
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1164:Intellectual property law of the European Union
589:" an ECOBP Background Paper, March 1998, page 4
1091:German Law on the Protection of Trade Secrets
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1085:Directive on the Protection of Trade Secrets
1032:Directive on the legal protection of designs
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230:in the field of patent law, made under the
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431:"Part 1 : Proceedings of the sitting"
575:Industry and the EU Life Patent Directive
293:The original proposal was adopted by the
278:Compulsory cross-licensing (Chapter III)
1143:WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty
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555:. European Commission. 14 January 2002
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661:Text of directive with headers (html)
251:plant varieties (as legally defined)
531:"legal texts – Marrakesh agreement"
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814:Electronic Commerce Directive 2000
599:Simpson, Alan (1 September 1997).
91:L213, 30 July 1998, pp. 13–21
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327:brought Case C-377/98 before the
1174:Patent law of the European Union
693:Some biotechnological inventions
553:"EURLex – 170903 – EN – EUR-Lex"
409:"EURLex – 100993 – EN – EUR-Lex"
383:Patent law of the European Union
275:Scope of Protection (Chapter II)
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808:Conditional Access Directive
796:Copyright Duration Directive
150:C295, 1996-10-07, p. 11
137:C296, 1996-10-08, p. 4.
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651:EU Legislation summary
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953:Trade Marks Directive
838:Enforcement Directive
628:. European Commission
455:. European Commission
433:. European Parliament
411:. European Commission
1003:Unified Patent Court
601:"No Patents on Life"
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295:European Commission
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118:Implementation date
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209:Replaced by
171:COM(2002) 2
1158:Categories
932:Trade mark
770:Directives
395:References
358:Strasbourg
247:inventions
201:Amended by
132:Commission
121:2000-07-30
113:1998-07-30
105:1998-07-06
76:Made under
761:Copyright
686:from the
537:18 August
498:18 August
102:Date made
87:reference
79:Art. 100a
1101:Treaties
579:Archived
515:Archived
476:Archived
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185:Replaces
134:proposal
1018:Designs
987:Romania
977:Germany
939:Ireland
903:Romania
883:Ireland
878:Germany
750:in the
315:Council
299:ethical
264:Content
168:Reports
158:opinion
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97:History
85:Journal
70:Council
62:Made by
1093:(2019)
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388:G 2/06
193:Amends
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888:Italy
707:Paper
626:(PDF)
533:. WTO
494:. WTO
258:genes
255:human
226:is a
54:Title
754:(EU)
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