Europe finally agrees on patent protection

OXFORD - Members of the European Parliament last week ended a decade-long dispute over whether the biotech industry should be allowed to hold patents in the European Union on inventions based on living organisms. The patents directive, which received overwhelming support of the MEPs, should provide a clear and consistent legal framework for biotech research in the EU.

The directive will harmonize existing national laws on biotech patenting and will establish the EU's first ethical standards watchdog for biotech research...