Surgical exceptions to patentability -- clash of principles, few EPO examiners hurt

Surgical Exceptions to Patentability is the title of a seminar which the Intellectual Property Institute is holding on the afternoon of Wednesday 16 April. The speakers are Florian Leverve (co-author of Sweet & Maxwell's loose-leaf reference work European Patent Decisions and a researcher at the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute) and IPKat team member Jeremy.

Right: having patched up the hospital's plumbing, Eric slips on his surgical mask and practises his latest bits of brain surgery, safe in the knowledge that no-one can see who he is.

According to the IPI's blurb:

"Of all the exclusions from patentability, most poignant is the bar on patenting methods of surgery, therapy or diagnosis practised on the human or animal body. While it seeks to release medical practitioners from the shackles of commercial monopoly and legal liability when choosing how best to treat their patients, many argue that its true effect is to stifle the creation, publication and promulgation of new techniques that save lives or improve their quality.

This seminar, based on a detailed study of decisions rendered by the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office, shows how the clash between conflicting principles has been resolved on the facts of individual instances, raising
questions as to whether the current law causes more problems than it resolves".

The venue is the London office of law firm Olswang, at 90 High Holborn, in the heart of Dickens' London. Registration starts at 4.30pm and the event gets underway at 5pm. Refreshments are rumoured to follow. If you're planning to attend, please email Anne Goldstein at the IPI so that you can be duly processed.