On 18 October, 2011 the CJEU rendered its decision in Brüstle v Greenpeace. Interpreting key -provisions of the EU Biotech Directive, the Court held that a process which involves removal of a stem cell from a human embryo at the blastocyst stage, entailing the destruction of that embryo, cannot be patented. This presentation will analyse the context, outcome & implications of this seminal judgment, which complements the EPO’s WARF decision and which has now also been reflected in the EPO’s new examination guidelines (June 2012), as well as in subsequent decisions by i.a. the German BGH, the UK courts and the EPO.