Germany's Patent Court has partially revoked a patent by German researcher Oliver Brüstle on the creation of nerve cells from embryonic stem cells. Greenpeace had opposed the patent stating that anything created from human tissue cannot be the subject of a patent in Germany. The Court agreed - to the detriment of reasearch industry.
Medical companies can only recover their expenditure on research and development through effective patent protection. This leads to a greater variety of pharmaceuticals being available and effective cures for illnesses and diseases being developed. The argument that patent protection leads automatically to higher prices is flawed: in many cases alternative treatments were previously unknown.
Brüstle is going to appeal the decision. Rightly so. Fortunately other countries allow patent protection - at the end of the day it will be German industry that suffers
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