Commentaries: Art. 2

Inventions whose exploitation is contrary to human dignity or that disregard the integrity of living organisms or that are in any other way contrary to public policy or morality are not patentable. In particular, no patent may be granted for:
1. processes for cloning human beings and the clones obtained thereby;
2. processes for forming hybrid organisms by using human germ cells, human totipotent cells or human embryonic stem cells and the entities obtained thereby;
3. processes of parthenogenesis by using human germinal material and the parthenogenetic entities obtained thereby;
4. processes for modifying the germ line genetic identity of human beings and the germ line cells obtained thereby;
5. unmodified human embryonic stem cells and stem cell lines;
6. the use of human embryos for non-medical purposes;
7. processes for modifying the genetic identity of animals which are likely to cause them suffering without being justified by overriding interests worthy of protection, and also animals resulting from such processes.
Also excluded from patentability are:
1. methods for treatment by surgery or therapy and diagnostic methods practised on the human or animal body;
2. plant varieties and animal varieties or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals; however, subject to the reservation of paragraph 1, microbiological or other technical processes and the products obtained thereby as well as inventions that concern plants or animals are patentable provided that their application is not technically confined to a single plant or animal variety.