UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
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FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported): February 12, 2009
GERON CORPORATION
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware 0-20859 75-2287752
(State or other (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer
jurisdiction Identification No.)
of incorporation)
230 CONSTITUTION DRIVE
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA 94025
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)
(650) 473-7700
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
N/A
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to
simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the
following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
[ ] Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17
CFR 230.425)
[ ] Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14a-12)
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Item 8.01 Other Events.
On November 27, 2008, Geron Corporation (the "Company") announced that
the Enlarged Board of Appeals of the European Patent Office (EPO) has issued a
decision in case G0002/06, which was an appeal by the Wisconsin Alumni Research
Foundation (WARF) against the rejection of claims in WARF's European Patent
Application No. 96903521.1. The claims of the application pertain to the first
isolation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) by Dr. James Thomson at the
University of Wisconsin. The Company holds a worldwide license under this patent
family.
The decision upholds the rejection of WARF's claims as being
impermissible under a rule of the European Patent Convention that prohibits the
patenting of inventions which concern "the uses of human embryos for industrial
or commercial purposes." In reaching its decision, the Enlarged Board of Appeals
emphasized the fact that at the time that the priority patent application was
filed (in 1995), the only method of obtaining hESCs, as described in the
application, required the use of a human embryo. Following Thomson's discovery,
many hESC lines have become widely available through stem cell banks, obviating
the need for researchers to culture the cells from embryonic material. The
applicability of this decision to such lines is uncertain.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
GERON CORPORATION
Date: February 12, 2009 By: /s/ David L. Greenwood
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David L. Greenwood
Executive Vice President
Chief Financial Officer