Disclosure Problems for Living Material - Illustrated on the Basis of the Practice of the European Patent Organisation

Abstract

A patent application must describe, i.e. disclose, the invention in a manner sufficiently clear for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art. The disclosure is an essential requirement for a patent to be granted. However, for biological inventions, this can lead to problems. To resolve these problems, ways have been found to enable the disclosure requirement to be met even in the field of modern biology. This was achieved by the possibility to deposit biological material and by following the decisions of the European Patent Organisation (EPO).