Title: | Article 7 (1) 3) and (2) of the Patent Law of 31/10/2008 |
Field of IP: | Patents |
Type of flexibility: | Exclusion from patentability of plants |
Summary table: |
Exceptions to Patentability
Article 7
(1) Patent protection shall not be granted in respect of:
3) a plant or animal variety or an essentially biological process for the production of a plant or animal, except:
-a biotechnological invention concerning a plant or animal, if the technical feasibility of the invention is not confined to a particular plant or animal variety;
- a microbiological or other technical process, or a product obtained by means of such process other than a plant or animal variety.
(2) For the purposes of this Law:
1) “plant variety” shall have the meaning laid down in the law governing the protection of new plant varieties;
2) an “essentially biological process” for the production of plants or animals shall be a process consisting entirely of natural phenomena such as crossing or selection;
3) a “microbiological process” shall be a process involving or performed upon or resulting in microbiological material;
4) “biotechnological inventions” are inventions that concern a product consisting of or containing biological material or a process by means of which a biological material is produced, processed or used.