Emerging technologies open the prospect of extraordinary interventions on the human body. These may go beyond what is strictly necessary to sustain health and well-being. While responding to social and ethical challenges of such advances, the Law simultaneously faces the challenge of reflecting on the legitimacy to legislate and on whether the existing legal framework is appropriate to address the

Gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas9, hold great promises for the advancement of science and technology. These foundational technologies enable to modify the genetic structure of living organisms with unprecedented precision. Potential applications include both plant, animal and human genetic interventions. In plant biology, gene editing introduces more precise, target- and time-efficien

The lack of treatments during the recent Ebola and Zika outbreaks dramatically exposed the vulnerability of the global health system and the dire consequences thereof. But even where therapies against infectious diseases had been available, an additional threat has gained world-wide attention: antimicrobial resistance (AMR). A growing number of microbial organisms are becoming resistant to availab

Emerging technologies are paving the way for future revolutionary advances in science that may open the possibility to change the very anthropological definition of human being. This mere possibility has lead to ethical interrogations concerning the nature and boundaries of human nature and our relationship with science and technology. Meanwhile the Law has faced the challenge of reflecting on the

The article considers the implications for EU design law of 3D-printing. It first describes the 3D-printing technology and the e-ecosystem which is evolving around the technology and involves a number of new stakeholders who in different ways are engaged in the making and sharing of CAD-files and/or printing. It is submitted that it is only a matter of time before 3D-printing equipment becomes ubi

Patenting Nanomedicine in Europe: Applying the ‘medical methods exception’ to emerging technologies is based on the authors PhD dissertation, defended in March 2014, at the University of Copenhagen. The book debates restrictions on the patentability of medical methods in European Patent Law. The main question addressed is whether it is viable and advisable the reinterpretation, reformulation or re

In Case C-364/13 International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCC) v. Comptroller General of Patents (December 18th, 2014), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) distinguished its’ earlier ruling in Brüstle v. Greenpeace (Brüstle) with regard to non-fertilized human ova stimulated by parthenogenesis. The Court found that in order to be considered a ‘human embryo’- and thus to be unpatentable

While pluralism and minimum harmonisation may have advantages concerning substantive requirements for IP protection there is an argument to be made in favour of establishing further harmonisation concerning rules and principles for legal interpretation of international or regional IP treaties, conventions and other legal instruments. Increasing autonomy of IP Law as a legal discipline and the deve

The present article was presented at the ATRIP Congress 2015. The main question addressed is whether reinterpretation, reformulation or replacement of Article 53 (c) of the European Patent Convention is viable and advisable. The issue is addressed by reference to both novel and resurfacing interpretative concerns connected with emerging technologies exemplified by nanomedicine, but also considerin

In its judgment in International Stem Cell Corporation v Comptroller General of Patents (ISCO) rendered on 18th December 2014, the CJEU qualified its’ earlier ruling in Brüstle v. Greenpeace (Brüstle) with regard to non-fertilised human ovums stimulated by parthenogenesis. The Court held that in order to constitute a ‘human embryo’ and thus to be unpatentable under the EU Biotechnology Directive,

On 25 March 2015, the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EBA) finally delivered its’ much awaited decisions on the consolidated referrals G2/12 (“Tomato II”) and G2/13 (“Broccoli II”). The EBA affirmed that products, namely plants or parts thereof, obtained by essentially biological processes are – unlike individual plant varieties – principally patentable under the European P

This article explores how to apply patentability rules to human enhancement, particularly focusing on Article 53(c) of the European Patent Convention (EPC).The global size and value of the cosmetic and wellness market and industry allow for the prediction of considerable market potential for human enhancement. Patents will be instrumental for companies to protect investment in innovation and tap i

The present article is the conclusion of a review of economic justifications for patent rights conducted with the objective of determining whether such arguments are per se capable of sustaining the existence of a different patentability regime for inventions of methods for treatment and diagnostic methods (art.53 (c) European Patent Convention). It starts by exploring the normative background and

Starting from a Global South perspective, this chapter presents a brief overview of the potential of nanotechnology to serve either as vehicle for broader attainability of human rights or to undermine current efforts. Particular attention is drawn to the complex interconnected issues of ensuring even access to the benefits of technological development and the need to maintain adequate levels of ec

The semantics of the particle le in Mandarin Chinese has been hotly debated in both Chinese and non-Chinese linguistic literature in particular during the past 25 years. Le is a post verbal particle, which also occurs in sentence final position. This syntactic flexibility and the fact that the presence of le seems to render distinct default readings depending on its syntactic position has given ri

Aspecuality, temporality and modality: a relevance-theoretic analysisof some pragmatic markers in Mandarin Chinese It is generally agreed that in Mandarin Chinese, tense (at least absolute tense) is not expressedmorphologically but there is a number of verbal and sentence-final particles that express aspect and mood. These (in particular the aspectual ones) have been studied rather extensively thr