European Patent Office tries to knock out European patent law
New rule was intended to prevent patents on traditional plant breeding
19 February 2026 / The European Patent Office has granted patent EP3720272 claiming traditionally-bred tomatoes with resistance to a plant virus (TBRFV) to the Dutch company Rijk Zwaan. The gene variants with resistance to the pathogen were discovered in wild tomatoes found in countries of origin such as Peru. These wild tomato plants were simply crossed with tomato plants that are grown and marketed in Europe.
