Activities

Open letter to Enlarged Board of Appeal of the EPO

Stop the patenting of plants and animals derived from conventional breeding!

In March 2019, the President of the European Patent Office (EPO) raised two questions at the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the EPO concerning patents on plants and animals derived from conventional breeding. The Enlarged Board of Appeal will now deal with these questions. Until 1 October 2019 statements can be filed. NO PATENTS ON SEEDS! filed a detailed legal argumentation on these questions.

If you want to support the demand to stop the patenting of plants and animals derived from conventional breeding, you can sign the open letter below online until 25 September 2019. Alternatively you can print the letter as a pdf (see below) and send it to „Keine Patente auf Saatgut!“ / Frohschammerstraße 14 / 80807 Munich, Germany. The letters and the signatures will then be handed over to the EPO until 1 October 2019.

Organizations, who want to support the letter, are kindly asked to send an email to johanna.eckhardt@no-patents-on-seeds.org.

Detailed info about the questions to the Enlarged Board of Appeal can be found in the background document.

Re: Patentability of plants and animals (G03/19)

Dear Members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal

The two questions raised by the President of the European Patent Office (EPO) should be answered with YES for the following reasons:

Democratically legitimized political control of the correct interpretation of European patent law should not be undermined by EPO decision-making. In this case, the power of the Administrative Council, based on the support of all 38 contracting states, cannot simply be overruled by decisions taken by a technical body at the EPO.

Consequently, the European Patent Office has to make sure that all processes used in conventional breeding and all plants and animals derived thereof are not subject to any patent claims.

Genetic engineering enables direct technical interventions in the genome. This is profoundly different from conventional breeding which starts from and works with a high level of genetic diversity, using all kinds of variations and mutations through further crossing and selection.

Genetic diversity as used in conventional breeding may be derived from native traits, existing plant varieties or from induced random mutations. If patents are granted on processes of genetic engineering, such patents clearly have to be restricted to technical and targeted processes. Access to genetic material as well as plants and animals derived from conventional breeding should not be hampered by patents.

With kind regards

Downloads

Open Letter

Background

Letter from NO PATENTS ON SEEDS! to Enlarged Board of Appeal

Signatory Organisations (list is continuously updated)

Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft e.V.

Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Umweltbeauftragten der Gliedkirchen der Evangelischen Kirchen in Deutschland

ARCHE NOAH - Gesellschaft für die Erhaltung der Kulturpflanzenvielfalt und ihre Entwicklung

Associación Vida Sana

BioForum Vlaanderen

Bio-Verband Erde & Saat

BUND Naturschutz

Compassion in World Farming

Coordination gegen BAYER-Gefahren

Corporate Europe Observatory

Danish Seed Savers

Die Freien Bäcker - Zeit für Verantwortung e.V.

FIAN Deutschland e.V.

Forschung und Züchtung Dotterfelderhof - LBS Dotterfelderhof e.V.

Four paws

Fundacji AgriNatura / Foundation AgriNatura for Agricultural Biodiversity

GAIA - Environmental Action and Intervention Group

Gen-ethical Network

Katholische Landvolk Bewegung Freiburg

Kein Patent auf Leben

ÖBV - Via Campesina Austria

OpenSourceSeeds

Oxfam

Pesticide Action Network UK

Plataforma Transgénicos Fora

ProSpecieRara

Public Eye

Sambucus e.V.

Sativa

Save our Seeds

Sinergia Animal

Społeczny Instytut Ekologiczny / Social Ecological Institute

SwissAid

Umweltinstitut München e.V.

Verband Katholisches Landvolk e.V.

Yeryuzu dernegi / Earth Association

Zukunftsstiftung Landwirtschaft

2019-06-26 Opposition against "salmon patent" handed over to European Patent Office

2019-03-27 Demonstration: Hands off our food plants!

2019-01-24 To the President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Mr António Campinos

2018-10-02 Actions against patents on barley and beer

Action by „No Patents on Seeds“ on October 2nd, 2018 at Hackerbrücke, Munich

2018-06-14 Stop 'Baysanto' from monopolising seeds!

2017-06-07 One last round of free beer!

2016-06-29 800.000 signatures against patents on plants and animals

2016-05-12 65.000 file opposition against Syngenta patent on tomatoes

2014-10-27 Freedom for Broccoli and Tomato!

2014-03-12 Opposition against Monsanto's patent on "Severed Broccoli”

2014-02-03 Free Pepper!

2013-10-16 European Patent Office a “democracy-free zone”

2012-11-30 Demonstration in Munich

2012-09-11 Signatures handed to the President of the European Parliament

2011-11-08 Giant tomato at European Patent Office

2011-10-26 Protest against patent on broccoli at the European Patent Office

2010-07-20 Demonstration against patent on broccoli

2010-07-19 International Conference on Patents on Seeds

2009-04-15 Demonstration against patent on pigs

2007-10-23 Demonstration against patent on cows

Simplenews subscription

Stop Patents on Plants and Animals!

The member organisations of NO PATENTS ON SEEDS! are concerned about the increasing number of patents on plants, seeds and farm animals and their impact on farmers, breeders, innovation and biodiversity.
These patents are an abuse of patent law and put in danger the access to basic resources in agriculture and food production.

Therefore, we call for an urgent re-think of European patent law in biotechnology and plant breeding and for clear regulations that exclude conventional breeding, genetic material, animals, plants and food derived thereof from patentability!