Kingdom of the Netherlands v. European Parliament and Council of the European Union, Case C-377/98, CJEU, 9 October 2001

Legal protection of biotechnological inventions. Human dignity and fundamental rights. 

Art. 1 EUCFR 
Art. 2 EUCFR  
Art. 3 TEU  
Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions

1. As regards living material of human origin, Directive 98/44/EC frames the law on patents in a manner sufficiently rigorous to ensure that the human body effectively remains unavailable and inalienable and that human dignity is thus safeguarded. 

2. In particular, the respect due to human dignity is guaranteed by Article 5(1) of Directive 98/44/EC, which provides that the human body at the various stages of its formation and development cannot constitute a patentable invention. 

3. In addition, Article 6 of Directive 98/44/EC cites as contrary to ordre public and morality, and therefore excluded from patentability, processes for cloning human beings, processes for modifying the germ line genetic identity of human beings and uses of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes.