TY - JOUR A1 - Wolff, Hannes T1 - Patentability of brain organoids derived from iPSC : a legal evaluation with interdisciplinary aspects JF - Neuroethics N2 - Brain Organoids in their current state of development are patentable. Future brain organoids may face some challenges in this regard, which I address in this contribution. Brain organoids unproblematically fulfil the general prerequisites of patentability set forth in Art. 3 (1) EU-Directive 98/44/EC (invention, novelty, inventive step and susceptibility of industrial application). Patentability is excluded if an invention makes use of human embryos or constitutes a stage of the human body in the individual phases of its formation and development. Both do not apply to brain organoids, unless ES-cells are used. Art. 6 (1) EU-Directive 98/44/EC excludes patentability for inventions “the commercial exploitation of which would be contrary to ordre public or morality”. While there is no conceivable scenario, in which the commercial application of current brain organoids violates the ordre public , the same is not necessarily true for future brain organoids. Keeping in mind that a development of consciousness-like abilities in future brain organoids cannot be excluded and that an ability for both physical and psychological suffering has been theorized, both of which are aspects of the ordre public , certain applications of future brain organoids may constitute a violation of the ordre public and therefore lead to an exclusion of patentability. KW - Patentability KW - Law KW - Brain organoids KW - Consciousness KW - Moral status Y1 - 2024 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:101:1-2024033111323821449698 SN - 1874-5490 SN - 1874-5504 VL - 17 IS - 1 PB - Springer Netherlands CY - Dordrecht ER -