Joint Opposition to Tomato Patent & Lessons for the NGT File
🗓️ Friday, 23 May | 10:00–11:30 CEST
❕ Find the video recording of the presentations here (Zoom, Passcode: 9lY1^h+z)
Links to the presentations of the speakers below.
Main topic:
Tomatoes showing natural resistance to a hazardous virus were patented as a technical inventon!
We will present a preview on a joint opposition of around 20 breeders together with No Patents on Seeds! that will be filed at the European Patent Office the following week. We will also address the upcoming NGT legislation and present possible solutions for the patent problem.
Burning issues:
How to prevent companies from blocking free access to biological resources needed by all breeders? What are the possible solutions for future NGT legislation?
The EU Parliament is proposing to prohibit patents on NGT plants. However, the EPO already grants patents on plants and plant material that is not derived from targeted processes of genetic engineering.
The access of plant material that occurs in nature or is obtained from conventional breeding is crucial for all future breeding. If these patents are not stopped, patents will hamper, delay or block future breeding of plants with and without NGTs.
The EU can stop patents on seeds obtained from conventional breeding and random mutagenesis because these patents were never allowed under EU Patent Directive 98/44/EC.
This problem can be solved now! At this strategic moment, with ongoing trialogue negotiations on New Genomic Techniques (NGT), this session will explore what’s at stake for seed sovereignty—and offer practical solutions for safeguarding free access to genetic resources for breeders in future legislation.
Key Questions to Be Addressed:
⚖️ What are workable policy solutions to enable access to biodiversity needed by all breeders in the upcoming NGT regulation?
🌱 How can EU law stop patents on conventionally bred plants?
🔍 What legal loopholes are companies exploiting—and how can they be closed?
Speakers:
-
Johanna Eckhardt, No Patents on Seeds! – framing the issue
-
Frans Carree, De Bolster (NL) – breeder’s perspective on current patent impacts (Download presentation)
-
Dr. Christoph Then, No Patents on Seeds! – details of the upcoming legal opposition (Download presentation)
-
Prof. Dr. Christine Godt, University of Oldenburg – legal implications of current patent practices (Download presentation)
-
Katherine Dolan, ARCHE NOAH (AT) – possible legislative solutions at EU level (Download presentation)
Find the video recording of the presentations here (Zoom, Passcode: 9lY1^h+z)
