HC Deb 10 July 1997 vol 297 c599W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement on her plans for the patenting of living genetic material. [7356]

Mr. Battle

[holding answer 8 July 1997]: Apart from the exclusion from patentability of plant and animal varieties as such, and plants and animals produced by traditional breeding methods, current United Kingdom legislation (The Patents Act 1977) affords patent protection to inventions concerning genetic material, such as isolated genes, and living material, if they meet the three general conditions (i.e. new, inventive and capable of industrial applicability) which are applied to inventions in all fields of technology.