The International Stem Cell Corporation (ISC) had filed two patents at the Patent Office in the United Kingdom related to obtaining human embryonic stem cells from unfertilized oocytes, but activated by parthenogenesis. The UK Patent Office had considered these inventions as not patentable within the meaning of Directive 98/44 / EC and in the light of the judgment of the European Court of Justice in the case Brüstle-Greenpeace. The decision to reject the patent by the UK Patent Office was appealed by the ISC and the matter was referred to the European Court of Justice. The attorney general ruled that the unfertilized oocytes and activated by parthenogenesis can not be understood as "human embryos" as being devoid of paternal DNA are not able to start the process of development of a human being.