October 2024
Patents are exclusive rights to commercially exploit a technical invention. In Europe, there is currently an ongoing controversial debate in regard to patents on seeds. The EU parliament and the EU member states are trying to find a solution to stop patents being issued on biological resources needed for breeding. There is strong political consensus in the EU to not allow patents on conventional seeds. Nevertheless, the European Patent Office (EPO) continues to grant them. The EU, therefore, needs to find solutions to secure the freedom to operate for conventional breeders and, at the same time, restrict the scope of patents granted on genetically engineered plants, including seeds obtained from new genetic engineering (NGTs). This is an urgent problem which must be solved in order to safeguard the future of European plant breeding, agriculture and food production.
Findings from recent patent research
In 2023, No Patents on Seeds! conducted comprehensive research into patents on plants and seeds. The researchers used the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation)1 and the European Patent Office (EPO) databases for this purpose. The aim was to identify patents and filed patent applications relevant to conventional breeding. Our research identified around 80 patents on plants granted in 2023. Of these more than 20 concerned conventional breeding. Among the plant species covered were cucumber, maize, melon, oilseed rape, pepper, spinach, tomato and wheat. Patent holders include companies such as Nunhems/BASF, Enza Zaaden, KWS, Rijk Zwaan, Seminis/Bayer and ChemChina/Syngenta. A more detailed analysis found that, in particular, processes used in random mutagenesis were used to circumvent the prohibitions in the European Patent Convention (EPC), Article 53 (b), which prohibits patents on plant varieties and conventional plant breeding. In 2023, more than 70 new international patent applications included conventional breeding (out of around 300 patent applications filed for plants). Around one third out of these claim plants obtained from random mutagenesis. In addition, further research using the PINTO database3, which was established by the European Seed Association (ESA), identified 115 relevant European patents affecting 1365 plant varieties and more than 40 plant species. More than 400 varieties are affected by more than just one patent, and up to six patents can apply to a single variety. The number of plant varieties covered by patents doubled between 2020 and 2024. The companies holding the highest numbers of patents are Bayer (Seminis/ Monsanto), BASF (Nunhems) and Rijk Zwaan. They are followed by ChemChina/Syngenta and KWS.