Ludzkie embriony i godność człowieka w świetle prawa patentowego. Wyrok Trybunału Sprawiedliwości Unii Europejskiej z dnia 19 października 2011 r. w sprawie Brüstle przeciwko Greenpeace

Paweł Łącki

Abstract

Human Embrios and Human Dignity from the Perspective of Patent Law.Judgment of the European Court of Justice of 19 October in the Case Brüstle v. GreenpeaceDifferent legal conceptions are nowadays challenged by bioethical dilemmas. This also includespatent law. In the Directive 98/44/EC on the legal protection of biotechnological inventionsthe European Parliament and the Council have considered uses of human embryos for industrialor commercial purposes unpatentable (Article 6(2)(c)).Interpretation of the Directive has aroused controversy, particularly in the context of useof stem cells obtained from a human embryo at the blastocyst stage, which entails the destructionof that embryo. On 18th October 2011 the European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber)gave a preliminary ruling providing an interpretation of the notion of human embrio. In its judgmentthe Court held that a ‘human embryo’ is any human ovum after fertilisation, any non-fertilisedhuman ovum into which the cell nucleus from a mature human cell has been transplantedand any non-fertilised human ovum whose division and further development have beenstimulated by parthenogenesis constitute. The judgment resolves all disputes relating to interpretationof Article 6(2)(c) of the Directive. Considering the main argument used by the Court,i.e. reference to the principle of human dignity,