27 October 2014 / A broad coalition of organisations demonstrate in front of the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich. The protesters call for European governments to implement the European Parliament resolution of May 2012. According to this resolution, conventionally bred plants and animals as well as the according procedures must be fully excluded from patent protection.
The demonstration was held on the occasion of a public EPO hearing on patents on broccoli and tomatoes. The EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal was discussing with industry representatives, whether seeds, fruits, plants and animals coming from convential breeding shall be treated as technical inventions and thus be patentable. Since the EPO earns money by granting patents, the protesting organisations demand that this decision must not be left to the EPO itself.