Volte-face

Alexander Robinson analysesthe implications of the EPO’s high-profile plant and animal ruling reversal

Alexander Robinson, Mathys & Squire

In a widely unexpected decision (opinion G 3/19), whichrepresents a complete reversal of a position adopted only five years ago, theEuropean Patent Office’s (EPO) highest judicial instance, the Enlarged Board ofAppeal (EBA), ruled that plants and animals exclusively obtained by means of“essentially biological processes” cannot be patented.