Nuevo informe muestra la necesidad de una acción política urgente
07 de diciembre 2015 / Munich . La Oficina Europea de Patentes (OEP) está concediendo cada vez más patentes de cultivo convencional. Ahora están a punto de tomar la decisión final sobre una patente de tomates con contenido reducido de agua (EP1211926) . Mañana, la OEP tendrá su audiencia final en esta patente , después de lo cual se otorgará la patente con sólo algunos pequeños cambios en la redacción . Junto con una patente sobre el brócoli (EP10698190) , la patente de los tomates ha trajo gran atención internacional y provocó un intenso debate durante varios años . A finales de marzo de 2015, la OEP utilizó estos dos casos para tomar una decisión precedente para declarar las plantas y los animales derivados de mejoramiento convencional como patentable . En la actualidad existe una creciente oposición a esta decisión: las autoridades de patentes y representantes de los gobiernos de Alemania, Austria, Francia, Alemania y los Países Bajos se encuentran entre aquellos que han criticado públicamente la decisión de EPO.
“It is now up to politicians to show they can succeed in the fight against the well-organised interests of the patent business”, says Christoph Then, one of the speakers for the international coalition of “No Patents on Seeds!”. “The EPO, the patent attorneys and big corporations are all benefitting from these patents, but the negative consequences concern society as a whole. It is of the greatest importance that the existing prohibitions are properly implemented.”
Article 53 (b) of the European Patent Convention (EPC) prohibits patents on plant varieties and on essentially biological processes for breeding. The EPO in its current interpretation of patent law has eroded the existing prohibitions and rendered them virtually ineffectual. This is shown in the updated report of the international coalition “No Patents on Seeds!”, which will be presented today in a media conference in Munich. The report includes a detailed political plan of action that should be taken to stop this development and implement effective prohibitions.
It appears that the patent on the tomatoes can no longer be stopped. On 10 September this year, the EPO took the decision that the patent on the broccoli would be granted. “Just doing nothing is not an option. More than a thousand patent applications concerning conventional breeding are already pending at the EPO,” says Ruth Tippe, who is responsible for researching patents at “No Patents on Seeds!”. “Around 120 such patents have already been granted. These patents are on the plant characteristics of around 1000 vegetable varieties.”
A recent call made by the international coalition No Patents on Seeds! to stop these patents has the support of several hundred organisations all over Europe. The coalition No Patents on Seeds! is supported by Arche Noah (Austria), Bionext (Netherlands), The Berne Declaration (Switzerland), GeneWatch (UK), Greenpeace, Misereor (Germany), Development Fund (Norway), NOAH (Denmark), No Patents on Life (Germany), ProSpecieRara, Red de Semillas (Spain), Rete Semi Rurali (Italy), Reseau Semences Paysannes (France) and Swissaid (Switzerland). They are all calling for a revision of European Patent Law to exclude breeding material, breeding processes, plants and animals, their characteristics, the harvest and food derived thereof from patentability.
Contacts: Christoph Then, Tel: +49 15154638040, info@no-patents-on-seeds.org
Dr. Ruth Tippe, rtippe@keinpatent.de