January 31, 2008
In a recent article, the European Patent Office (“EPO”) announced that its opposition division has maintained the existence of the “frozen sperm” patent owned by XY Inc. in Colorado. In the announcement (link below), the EPO announced that European Patent No. EP1257168, directed towards a method of cryopreservation of sperm samples, will remain active but will be “restricted in scope” based upon the European Patent Convention. This particular patent gained notoriety in Europe as it initially claimed all types of sperm cells (human and animal), invoking several oppositions of the issued patent. Although the formal opposition division decision is yet to be published, it appears that the patent itself will no longer contain any claims relating to frozen sperm cells. A link to this patent (via esp@cenet) is provided below, where the claims in their original format may be viewed.
EPO Announcement: LINK
EP1257168 (via esp@cenet): LINK
EPO Announcement: LINK
EP1257168 (via esp@cenet): LINK
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