20/08/2018 (Agence Europe) – WeMove.Eu, a movement of citizens within the EU, is currently campaigning to ban certain transnational breweries (Carlsberg, Heineken) from taking out patents on barley used in beer recipes and has launched a petition to this end. “Not only is it scandalous that these greedy companies want to own a tradition that has existed for millennia, but by awarding the patent, the EPO (European Patent Office) has broken EU law”, said the organisation, which is hoping to repeat the success it achieved in 2017 in opposing the patenting of plants. The organisation has submitted a complaint against these patents. The European Patent Office has responded by saying that the appeals procedure will launch in autumn 2018. The petition can be consulted at: https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/no-patents-on-beer. (PH)