The campaign group No Patents on Seeds (NPoS)! has filed an appeal against the European Patent Office’s (EPO) rejection in February of its previous opposition to a patent (EP2966992) granted to Rijk Zwaan for a conventionally-bred lettuce in 2018.
The patent was awarded as the seeds are capable of germinating at higher temperatures than other lettuce varieties.
Christoph Then of the campaign group said, “If the patent is not revoked, it will not be possible to continue to breed freely with these plants to bring improved varieties to the market. The patent means that only Rijk Zwaan can decide who gets access to the necessary biological material. Such patents endanger diversity in the fields and in our shopping baskets; they can also significantly hamper adaptation to climate change.”
In a statement, German-based NPoS explained, ‘The text of the appeal sets out fundamental differences between conventional breeding and genetic engineering, and also clarifies this in the context of the existing legal framework. European patent law actually only allows patents on genetically modified plants. However, the EPO also grants patents on plants with randomly mutated genes.
‘The methods of ‘random mutagenesis’ have been known for around 100 years. In recent decades, several thousand plant varieties have been developed using these methods without patents being taken out on the plants. The legally guaranteed breeders’ privilege (or breeders’ exemption) is applicable in this context, as it allows other breeders free access to breed and market improved varieties.’
However, a recent article on SeedWorld warned that such patents are necessary if breeders are to continue to invest in developing new varieties. “To ensure a continuous stream of innovation, however, we need a balanced IP system that is based on high-quality plant breeders’ rights (PBR) for varieties and patents for plant biotechnology inventions. These protections provide the incentive to all breeders and inventors (public & private sector) to continue to innovate,” wrote Marcel Bruins.
“To ensure that patent-protected plants can be used in breeding programs for the development of new varieties, a limited breeders’ exemption has been introduced in the patent law of several European countries and in the Unitary Patent System. This allows patented traits and biological material to be used for further variety development. However, in the same way as for essentially derived varieties in PBR regulations, a license is required in case the patented element is present in new commercial varieties.”
