Copying a gene does not magically turn it into an invention. It's a routine biochemical procedure, and the all important genetic information is still the same. But the EU, the European Patent Office and the biotechnology industry needed a legal excuse to compete with the American system which did allow gene patenting. Since then widespread public concern about who controls genetic discoveries has found a voice. Firstly, laws requires interpretation.
Patent Offices have power to decide.
A European Churches bioethics working group argue that it is wrong to patent a gene in order to control all possible uses of it. You should be able to patent only the specified use you have worked out. The patent should not deter someone else from developing another marketable use for the gene. Medical genetics still commands a good deal of public goodwill, but it will not continue to do so if it abuses the monopoly which patenting can give. A simple patent system to afford protection to an inventor from commercial predators has long become a primary tool in the competitive ambitions of powerful companies.