PRESS
RELEASE
EUROPEAN BIOTECH COMPANIES ENCOURAGED BY ECJ
DECISION TO UPHOLD BIOTECH PATENTS DIRECTIVE
Brussels, 9 October 2001. EuropaBio,
the European Association for Bioindustries, is satisfied that the European Court
of Justice has confirmed the opinion of the Advocate General and has dismissed
the appeal filed by the Kingdom of the Netherlands against Directive 98/44/EC on
the legal protection of biotechnology inventions. The Netherlands had challenged
the legal basis for the directive and had argued that it was in breach of the
principles of subsidiarity and legal certainty, of international obligations, of
the fundamental right to human dignity and of procedural rules. All six pleas
were unequivocally rejected by the ECJ.
"More than a year
after the
deadline for Member States to transposition
of the directive, eleven out of fifteen Member States have not yet
done so," said Hugo Schepens, EuropaBio Secretary General.
"The Court's decision is a clear call on all of them to
transpose the directive immediately, fully and unequivocally.
Europe has been very late in adopting this legislation and
cannot afford any further loss of time. Effective intellectual property
protection remains the cornerstone of successful research and
entrepreneurship."
Dr Erik Tambuyzer,
Chairman of EuropaBio, stressed that "to become fully competitive in the
field of biotechnology, as called for by the Lisbon and Stockholm summits,
Europe must eliminate ambiguity and uncertainty.
Today's ruling is a powerful signal to EU and national policymakers.
It is also a strong encouragement to the thousands of European
researchers and entrepreneurs who are unlocking biotechnology's rich potential
for Europe’s welfare and well-being."
EuropaBio
represents 40 corporate members
operating worldwide and 14 national biotechnology associations (totalling around
700 SMEs) involved in research and development, testing, manufacturing and
distribution of biotechnology products.
EuropaBio,
the voice of European bioindustries, aims to be a promoting force for
biotechnology and to present its proposals to industry, politicians, regulators,
NGOs, and the public at large.
6 Avenue de l'Armée – 1040 Brussels
E-mail:
mail@europabio.org / Internet:
www.europabio.org