European Organisation of Agricultural, Rural and Forestry Contractors
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28/02/2017
The EU Council has adopted, at a ministerial meeting on 20 February in Brussels, conclusions confirming that the varieties obtained mainly by using classical selection methods should not be patentable. The European Commission had published a legal advice along the same lines.
In these conclusions, the Council expresses their opinion, that the patents granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) on varieties of tomatoes and broccoli are inconsistent with the initial objective of the European legislature and, thus, calls on the Member States to use their power within the EPO to enforce their interpretation from the regulation.
EMSA welcomes the conclusion. “The community protection system for plant varieties in Europe is entirely efficient and the dynamic production of new varieties is the living proof. Furthermore, that system foresees a fee collection that enables plant breeders to finance innovation, and be rewarded for their work in breeding new varieties. Patents are not a suitable system of intellectual property protection for plant varieties. “Plant patents are damaging to the interests of stakeholders in the agriculture value chain,” emphasises Nigel Day, President of EMSA. He also stated, “Now, it comes down to the European governments present in the EPO to implement what they adopted at the Council of Ministers and to bring an end to all the patents on conventional varieties.”