Abstract

Patenting human stem cells has become one of the most controversial issues of the bioethics field at the beginning of the XXIst century, at least in industrial countries. This article relates the story of the long legal adventure that preceded the ruling of the Warf case by the Enlarged board of appeal of the European Patent Office on 25th November 2008.

Key-words:

Stem cells, Embryonic stem cells, Patent, European Union, Europe, Comparative study.