European Patent Law, the Human Embryo and Biomedical Research Will Brexit Mean Brexit?

Abstract

Here I revisit my work and ponder the implications of Brexit for the patenting of inventions arising from research involving the human embryo carried out in the UK. Specifically, in respect of these inventions, I ask: will Brexit actually mean Brexit? I don’t think it will. My reason is straightforward: while EU law applies to research involving the human embryo, it is not the sole legal regime that applies across Europe, since it works in parallel and interacts with the European Patent Organisation’s European Patent Convention, to which the UK remains a state party. What I seek to underscore in this brief comment is the following. EU law will continue to exert influence in UK law due to interpretations of the EPC that essentially mirror EU law, and in particular the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union. In other words, in this area, Brexit does not necessarily mean Brexit.