Patent Restrictions on Cancer Mouse

The European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich has further restricted the patent on the so-called 'cancer-mouse'. An appeals chamber ruled that the patent, which allows the implantation of cancerous cells into animals, would no longer apply to all rodents, but to mice alone. It is the second time the EPO has placed a restriction on the patent. In 2001, the initial patent, which applied to all mammals bar human beings, was restricted to rodents. The appeal process was triggered by a wave of opposition from animal rights organisations in Germany, Austria and Britain, and German and Swiss organisations opposed to patents on life. The new ruling is the last which can be passed by the EPO. Further opposition will have to be taken to a court in one of the 11 European countries where the patent is valid. The cancer-mouse is the first European patent to be allowed on a so-called transgenic animal, an animal in which at least one cell has been planted from another living thing.