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No decision upon patent on cold-tolerant maize
Procedure against a patent on conventional breeding will be continued

20 October 2026 / The European Patent Office (EPO) today held a hearing on an appeal against a patent of company KWS on cold-tolerant maize (EP 3380618). The international coalition of No Patents on Seeds! filed opposition and appeal because patents on conventionally-bred plants and plant varieties are not permitted in Europe.
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2026-10-20 :No decision upon patent on cold-tolerant maize
2026-10-13 :Patents in conflict with the common good
2026-09-22 :Patent on lettuce upheld
2026-09-17 :Hearing on appeal against a patent on lettuce
2026-06-17 :Patents on seeds: EU has missed the chance to establish effective prohibitions
2026-05-03 :Patents on Seeds: European Patent Office vs. the EU
2026-04-14 :European survey on Patents on Seeds
2026-02-17 :European Patent Office tries to knock out European patent law
2026-01-14 :European Patent Office lets EU decisions to come to nothing
2025-12-09 :Just 7 patents affect 145 conventionally bred plant varieties
2025-11-06 :Patent on maize with native traits upheld
2025-09-29 :European Patent Office: Scandalous patent granted on tomatoes
2025-07-11 :Patent on bush-type watermelon plants is upheld
2025-06-18 :Mounting criticism of patents on seeds
2025-03-25 :No decision on European patent on beer and barley
2024-12-09 :What can be achieved at EU level against patents on seeds?
2024-10-28 :The use of biodiversity as a means of adaptation to climate change is a Monsanto invention
2024-10-15 :Opposition against patent on maize rejected
2024-06-18 :CRISPR patents block conventional plant breeding
2024-05-21 :Appeal against the decision made on the lettuce patent
2024-04-15 :Patents block breeding of tomatoes resistant to harmful virus
2024-02-06 :Opposition against patent on conventionally-bred lettuce rejected
2024-01-31 :Decision imminent on a patent covering conventionally-bred lettuce
2023-10-04 :Protest on 50th anniversary of European Patent Office
2023-09-27 :New patent granted on ‘super-broccoli’
2023-06-27 :More than 1.000 plant varieties affected by patents
2023-05-13 :Opposition against a patent on maize with previously known traits
2023-04-26 :New patent law in Austria sends a clear signal against patents on seeds
2023-02-17 :Patent on sweet and hot peppers not revoked
2023-02-13 :Public hearing held on opposition against a patent claiming sweet and hot peppers
2022-12-12 :250.000 maize kernels for 250.000 signatures
2022-12-05 :Patents filed by KWS are a threat to plant breeding in Europe
2022-11-22 :240.000 signatures against patents on seeds
2022-06-28 :Patents on plant genes - a lockdown for conventional plant breeding
2022-05-10 :Patent on barley and beer upheld
2022-03-23 :Further patent on barley and beer about to be granted
2021-12-13 :Opposition against BASF patent on watermelons
2021-11-24 :Call for international conference to stop patents on seeds
2021-11-15 :Decision on patent covering salmon and trout
2021-11-03 :Companies Carlsberg and Heineken want revocation of their own patent
2021-10-11 :Patents on ‘New Genetic Engineering’ are a threat to traditional breeding
2021-07-07 :Will politics now stop patents on seeds in Europe?
2021-06-28 :Almost 200,000 signatures in campaign to demand immediate stop to patents on seeds
2021-06-08 :Patent on barley and beer upheld
2021-05-05 :EPO grants BASF a patent on water melons
2021-03-22 :Patents on Seeds: Politicians and the EPO must take responsibility
2021-03-19 :European Patent Office finally revokes Monsanto patent on melons
2021-03-09 :Freedom for seeds!
2020-12-14 :Still no solution for prohibiting patents on plants and animals
2020-06-25 :Patents on seeds: Appeal to German Federal Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht
2020-05-14 :European Patent Office gives green light to prohibit patents on plants and animals
2020-04-10 :Carlsberg again files patent applications on barley and beer
2019-10-01 :EU Parliament, national governments and civil society organizations against patents on plants and animals
2019-06-25 :Opposition against patent on salmon and trout
2019-06-11 :Patent applications covering ‘seeds to meat’and from ‘maize to milk’
2019-05-02 :No patent on fish, chickens, pigs and cows!
2019-03-26 :"European Patent Office: Hands off our food plants!"
2019-03-24 :End the legal chaos at the European Patent Office!
2019-03-06 :United call for action - protest at the European Patent Office
2019-03-05 :Opposition against patent on lettuce
2019-01-23 :International appeal to the President of the European Patent Office, António Campinos
2018-10-08 :Who invented beer and barley?
2018-10-03 :Scope of patent on beer reduced after opposition
2018-06-14 :Stop 'Baysanto' from monopolising seeds!
2018-03-26 :“One single mutation is sufficient to patent a whole vegetable garden”
2018-02-20 :Syngenta fails at the European Patent Office
2018-01-16 :Growing opposition to patents on seeds
2017-10-11 :Opposition to Monsanto bio-piracy patent on soybeans rejected
2017-10-10 :Hearing on Monsanto soybean bio-piracy
2017-06-29 :Still no solution regarding patents on plants and animals
2017-06-26 : Through the back door: European Patent Office wants to expand patenting of plants and animals
2017-05-29 :European Patent Office to strengthen prohibitions against patents on plants and animals
2017-04-26 :European Patent Office and industry meeting on patents on seeds – public excluded
2017-04-10 :Stop patents on bread and beer now!
2017-04-06 :European Patent Office continues to grant patents on plants
2017-03-15 :Call to stop patents on beer
2017-02-21 :EU unites against patents on plants and animals
2017-01-20 :Opposition against patents on beer!
2016-11-25 :EU Council to discuss patents on plants and animals
2016-11-17 :No Patents on Beer!
2016-11-03 :EU Commission says plants and animals derived from conventional breeding should be regarded as non-patentable
2016-08-03 :No intention of granting a patent on salmon ...
2016-07-20 :Animals are not an invention of the feed industry!
2016-06-30 : More than 800.000 signatures against patents on plants and animals
2016-06-21 : Stop patents on plants and animals!
2016-05-13 :65.000 x opposition against Syngenta patent on tomatoes
2016-01-20 :European Patent Office revokes Monsanto patent on melons
2016-01-20 :Hearing on the opposition against Monsanto Patent on Indian Melon
2015-12-17 :European Parliament calling for patents on plants derived from conventional breeding to be stopped
2015-12-07 :Patent on tomatoes with reduced water content about to be granted
2015-10-27 :Syngenta granted patent on pepper for use as food
2015-08-25 :European Patent Office boosts its business with Patents on Life
2015-05-21 :Monsanto soon to receive 30 European patents on food plants
2015-05-21 :Monsanto soon to receive 30 European patents on food plants
2015-03-26 :European Patent Office upholds patents on broccoli and tomato
2014-12-22 :After opposition: Monsanto patent on tomatoes revoked
2014-12-01 :Opposition to stop Monsanto soybean patent biopiracy
2014-10-23 :“Patent industry selling out future of our food”
2014-10-16 :No Patents on seeds ! Stop the Monsantos !
2014-05-30 :Opposition against European Patent on tomatoes
2014-05-30 :Opposition against European Patent on tomatoes
2014-03-12 :Opposition: Stop Monsanto “patent on severed broccoli”
2014-03-10 :Opposition to Patent EP 1 597 965
2014-02-27 :Monsanto bio-piracy supported by European Patent Office
2014-02-20 :European Patent Office blunder leads to grant of a new patent on conventional breeding
2014-02-20 :European Patent Office blunder leads to grant of a new patent on conventional breeding
2014-02-03 :Free Pepper!
2014-02-03 :Free Pepper!
2013-10-16 :European Patent Office a “democracy-free zone”
2013-06-26 :German Parliament prohibits patents on plants and animals from conventional breeding
2013-06-26 :German Parliament prohibits patents on plants and animals from conventional breeding
2013-05-09 :European Patent on 'red hot chili peppers'
2013-05-09 :European Patent on 'red hot chili peppers'
2013-03-13 :A new wave of patents on plants
2013-03-13 :A new wave of patents on plants
2012-12-10 :The EU Unitary Patent: A 'One Stop Shop' for Monsanto & Co
2012-10-24 :Demonstration on 30 November in Munich
2012-09-11 :European patent law at crossroads
2011-11-04 :Patent on tomato becomes a landmark decision
2011-11-04 :Patent on tomato becomes a landmark decision
2011-10-26 :Protest against patent on broccoli at the European Patent Office
2011-10-26 :Protest against patent on broccoli at the European Patent Office
2011-10-20 :Patent on Broccoli will not be revoked

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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!