On December 18, 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) ruled in International Stem Cell Corporation v. Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks that under the EU Biotech Directive (the Directive)—which prohibits patenting human embryos for industrial and commercial purposes—an organism incapable of developing into a human being is not considered a human embryo and that the use of such an organism for industrial or commercial purposes may be patented.  According to the press release, the Court found that under the Directive, a non-fertilized human ovum must have the inherent capacity to develop into a human being to be considered a “human embryo,” and consequently, “the mere fact that a parthenogenetically-activated human ovum commences a process of development is not sufficient for it to be regarded as a ‘human embryo.’”  The Court stated that it is for the High Court of Justice in the UK “to determine whether or not, in the light of knowledge which is sufficiently tried and tested by international medical science, the organisms which are the subject of [International Stem Cell Corporation] applications for registration have the inherent capacity of developing into a human being.”