The starting point for considering this question is the European Patent Convention, which states, amongst other things, that an invention must be capable of use within an industrial setting in order to attract patent protection. The European Biotech Directive goes further and states that "an element isolated from the human body or otherwise produced is not excluded from patentability". This is subject to the details of its industrial application being disclosed in the patent application
In 2008, the High Court ruled that the industrial application of the protein Neutrokine-alpha was not defined in enough detail to merit the award of a patent in favour of Human Genome Sciences. It stated that it would not be of much use beyond a research project. Pharmaceutical company had Eli Lilly opposed the grant.
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