The human genome in patent law

Abstract

This paper is a brief analysis of the legal concept of patent and its relationship with the technologies that the study of human genome makes possible, trying to do a critical exam of the basis of current laws about it. The conclusion is that legislation on the patentability of this technologies is highly problematic, due to the ambiguity of the concepts involved, in particular those related with the necessary conditions that a new invention must accomplish to be patentable.