The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in International Stem Cell Corporation has followed the Advocate General's opinion (see our earlier article here) and has held that a parthenote does not constitute a ‘human embryo’ if, in the light of current scientific knowledge, it does not, in itself, have the inherent capacity of developing into a human being.

As a result stem cells derived from parthenotes are not necessarily excluded from patentability in Europe.