• Home
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Subscribe
    • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
    • Advertise On IP Watch
    • Editorial Calendar
  • Videos
  • Links
  • Help

Intellectual Property Watch

Original news and analysis on international IP policy

  • Copyright
  • Patents
  • Trademarks
  • Opinions
  • People News
  • Venues
    • Bilateral/Regional Negotiations
    • ITU/ICANN
    • United Nations – other
    • WHO
    • WIPO
    • WTO/TRIPS
    • Africa
    • Asia/Pacific
    • Europe
    • Latin America/Caribbean
    • North America
  • Themes
    • Access to Knowledge/ Open Innovation & Science
    • Food Security/ Agriculture/ Genetic Resources
    • Finance
    • Health & IP
    • Human Rights
    • Internet Governance/ Digital Economy/ Cyberspace
    • Lobbying
    • Technical Cooperation/ Technology Transfer
  • Health Policy Watch

EPO Still Granting Patents On Conventional Vegetables; ‘Just Following Rules’

24/05/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

The European Patent Office is continuing to grant patents on conventional plants despite demands from the European Parliament and the German Parliament that the patent office refrain from granting such patents, the coalition of non-governmental organisations called “No patents on seeds” said in a release.

According to the release, the EPO has granted patent EP2140023 to Syngenta, which says the invention concerns “novel pepper plants resistant to insects, and to seeds and fruits of said plants. The present invention also relates to methods of making and using such plants and their fruits.”

No patents on seeds said this case relates to pepper plants, such as chili, derived from conventional breeding and follows two precedent cases challenged at the EPO (for tomatoes and broccoli) for which decisions are still pending (IPW, IP-Watch briefs, 13 June 2012).

In the group’s view, the EPO has a biased way of interpreting the text of the European Patent Convention, which prohibits patents on plant and animal varieties. The coalition is concern, it said, “that patents will foster further market concentration, making farmers and other stakeholders in food supply even more dependent on just a few big international companies.”

It called for a revision of the European Patent Law “to exclude breeding material, plants and animals and food derived therof from patentability.” They launched an online petition, which they claim has received over 2 million signatures.

EPO: Stop Us Before We Patent Again

Meanwhile, EPO Deputy Spokesperson Rainer Osterwalder told Intellectual Property Watch that according to the European Patent Convention (EPC), plants fulfilling the patentability criteria such as novelty and inventive step are patentable. What is not patentable in Europe are essentially biological breeding methods for plants, such as marker-assisted breeding, he said.

A question remains on the plants issued from those processes as nothing in the current rules indicates how patentable plants should be obtained, he added. This question needs to be clarified by the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal, in the context of the “broccoli” case, to which it has yet to give an answer.

In the meantime, in the case of patent EP2140023, the EPO had to follow the rules indicated by the EPC, Osterwalder said. The EPO values and respects the opinion of the European Parliament and keeps members informed of progress on those cases, he said, but a resolution of the Parliament is not a legally binding one and cannot supersede the EPO rules, which have been established by its member states.

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Catherine Saez may be reached at csaez@ip-watch.ch.

Creative Commons License"EPO Still Granting Patents On Conventional Vegetables; ‘Just Following Rules’" by Intellectual Property Watch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Filed Under: IP Policies, Language, Themes, Venues, Access to Knowledge/ Education, Biodiversity/Genetic Resources/Biotech, English, Environment, Europe, Human Rights, Innovation/ R&D, Patents/Designs/Trade Secrets

Comments

  1. Tim Roberts says

    25/05/2013 at 10:00 am

    If the vegetables are conventional, how come patents were granted on them? I suspect they were new and not obvious. If patents are generally a good idea and promote technical development, it’s not clear why they should be banned for useful new plants. As to the objection that the method of producing them is conventional, this is confused thinking. Once you know where to go, getting there may well be straightforward.

    Reply
    • Octavio Espinosa says

      01/04/2015 at 5:03 pm

      I refer to the sentence “If patents are generally a good idea and promote technical development, it’s not clear why they should be banned for useful new plants.” A first response to this is that the assumptions are not necessary valid. Are patentes GENERALLY a good idea? Do they promote technical development? The answer is: not always, not necessarily. But even assuming an affirmative answer to those questions, one can submit they not because something is ‘patentable’ it should be patented. Public interest and public policy can (and should) prevail. So, a country may choose to exclude (otherwise patentable) plants from patent protection. The idea behind such exclusion would be that such plants be freely and widely reproduced (i.e. copied) in that country. This is what TRIPS Article 27.3(b) is about. (I apologise if ‘copy’ is seen by some as a ‘four-letter word’).

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. EPO Still Granting #Patents On Conventional Vegetables; ‘Just Following Rules’ | Blog by Tech Corp Legal LLP | Patent | Technology | Law | Business | Social Media says:
    24/05/2013 at 9:28 am

    […]  EPO Still Granting #Patents On Conventional Vegetables; ‘Just Following Rules’ To read more Click Here:  […]

    Reply
  2. EPO Still Granting Patents On Conventional Vegetables; ‘Just Following Rules’ – Intellectual Property Watch | Legal Planet says:
    24/05/2013 at 5:04 pm

    […] Continue reading here: CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
My Tweets

IPW News Briefs

Saudis Seek Alternative Energy Partners Through WIPO Green Program

Chinese IP Officials Complete Study Of UK, European IP Law

Perspectives on the US

In US, No Remedies For Growing IP Infringements

US IP Law – Big Developments On The Horizon In 2019

More perspectives on the US...

Supported Series: Civil Society And TRIPS Flexibilities

Civil Society And TRIPS Flexibilities Series – Translations Now Available

The Myth Of IP Incentives For All Nations – Q&A With Carlos Correa

Read the TRIPS flexibilities series...

Paid Content

Interview With Peter Vanderheyden, CEO Of Article One Partners

More paid content...

IP Delegates in Geneva

  • IP Delegates in Geneva
  • Guide to Geneva-based Public Health and IP Organisations

All Story Categories

Other Languages

  • Français
  • Español
  • 中文
  • اللغة العربية

Archives

  • Archives
  • Monthly Reporter

Staff Access

  • Writers

Sign up for free news alerts

This site uses cookies to help give you the best experience on our website. Cookies enable us to collect information that helps us personalise your experience and improve the functionality and performance of our site. By continuing to read our website, we assume you agree to this, otherwise you can adjust your browser settings. Please read our cookie and Privacy Policy. Our Cookies and Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Global Policy Reporting

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.