Articles 5 (2), (3), (4), (5), (6.1) and 6 (1) and (2) of the Patent Act No. 173/2003 of 31/10/ 2003as last amended by Law OG No 76/2008 of 23/07/2007
Article 5
(2) According to the conditions set out in paragraph (1) of this Article, a patent shall also be granted for an invention which concerns:
1. a product consisting of or containing biological material;
2. a process by means of which the biological material is produced, processed or used;
3. a biological material isolated from its natural environment or produced by means of a technical process, even if it previously occurred in nature.
(3) The biological material referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article shall be any material containing genetic information and capable of reproducing itself or being reproduced in a biological system.
(4) According to the conditions set out in paragraph (1) of this Article, an invention which concerns plants or animals shall be considered patentable if the technical feasibility of the invention is not confined to a particular plant or animal variety and if the process for carrying out the invention is not essentially biological.
(5) A process for the production of plants and animals referred to in paragraph (4) of this Article is essentially biological if it entirely consists of natural processes such as crossing or selection.
(6) The following in particular shall not be considered to be the inventions within the meaning of paragraph (1) of this Article:
1. discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods,
Article 6
Excluded from patent protection shall be:
1. inventions which concern animal breeds, plant varieties and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals, with the exception of inventions which concern non-biological and microbiological processes and products resulting from such processes, as provided for in Article 5, paragraph (4) of this Act; a microbiological process shall imply, under this Act, any process involving or performed upon or resulting in microbiological material.
2. the human body, at the various stages of its formation and development, and the simple discovery of one of its elements, including the sequence or partial sequence of a gene. An invention relating to an element isolated from the human body or otherwise produced by means of a technical process, including the sequence or partial sequence of a gene, may constitute a patentable invention, even if the structure of that element is identical to that of a natural element. The industrial application of a sequence or a partial sequence of a gene must be disclosed in the patent application as originally filed.