In Germany, no new human embryonic stem cell lines can be generated, but research using imported lines generated prior to May 1, 2007 is permitted, while in the USA, a series of restrictions implemented between 1995 and 2009 limited federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. The patentability of human embryonic stem cells and lines is similarly complex (The Hinxton Group, 2013). Some countries, including the US, place liitle or no restriction on this practice, while in 2011 the European Court of Justice ruled that patents cannot be granted in Europe for any technologies based on research using human embryonic stem cells.