Comparative study of the possibility and Requirements of patenting stem cell inventions in the US, EU and Iran

The study of patentability of human stem cells requires that in the first stage, innovations in this field be considered as patentable issues, and then it may be possible to study the three patent requirements. Paying attention to the general expression of patent laws in all legal systems, patents in this field are considered as registrable issues. Applying the three patent requirements to patents in this field also faces challenges that in both US and European legal systems have tried to address these challenges by providing indicators of each of the three patent requirements useful to realize existence of each requirements in a given case.

This research is of theoretical type and the research method is comparative and descriptive-analytical and the method of data collection is library and has been done by referring to documents, books and articles.

Iran's patent system does not have sufficient examination guidelines to examine inventions in this field and examiners do not have sufficient skills. On the other hand, US and European patent systems in the last two decades have faced the challenge of applying patent requirements to innovations in this field and have found appropriate solutions to solve their problems which could be a shortcut for Iran patent system. Ethical considerations: All ethical considerations including the authenticity of the texts, honesty and fidelity have been observed in order to organize this research.

Due to the shortcomings of the Iranian patent system, especially the lack of examination guidelines and the lack of specialized patent examiners in Iran, the selection of more stringent criteria for patent examination of the patent system faces serious challenges. In general, it is appropriate that the criteria considered in some other legal systems mentioned in the patent requirements to avoid ambiguities and similar lawsuits raised in these legal systems be specified in the patent law or relevant regulations. The US legal system is more rigorous in applying these requirements. Due to the characteristics of the Iranian patent system, choosing the easier approach can make the examination work less expensive and more commensurate. For example, it is appropriate to specify that human stem cells, given that they are natural elements, must be isolated from their natural environment and accompanied by a minimum of technical intervention to be considered new. It is also appropriate to consider the need for "unexpected technical effect" and "sense of continuous demand" in order to finding innovative step. To apply the requirements of industrial application three indicators of being specific, tangible and significant are suggested.