§ Lord Alton of Liverpoolasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they were consulted before the European Patent Office issued a patent on altering cells and human embryos to researchers at Edinburgh University; whether the European Patent Office has made it clear to the patent holders that the patent may not be used in the context of human beings; and whether, in the light of the admission by the European Patent Office that a mistake was made in issuing the patent, the Government have registered a formal protest and asked for the patent to be withdrawn. [HL1482]
39WA
§ The Minister for Science, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)The granting of patents by the European Patent Office (EPO) is carried out under the direction of its president who is responsible for its activities and is accountable to the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation. Member states of the organization, including the United Kingdom, are not consulted before the office decides to grant patents. The EPO has issued a press statement which makes clear that a mistake was made in issuing patent No. EP0695351 and that the scope of protection of this patent does not extend to human cloning. The office regrets that the error has occurred and states that it will take every care to prevent such errors recurring in the future. The president reported his office's error to the administrative council, on which the United Kingdom is represented. The council expressed its strong concern that the error had occurred and requested the office to ensure that measures would be taken to avoid repetition of such errors. We understand that the patent has been challenged by Greenpeace Deutschland, which initiated opposition proceedings on 24 February.