25/03/2019 (Agence Europe) – In a report published on Monday 25 March, the coalition of environmental NGOs ‘No Patents on Seeds’ criticised the “legal chaos” reigning at the European Patent Office (EPO) regarding the granting of patents on living organisms that are the result of conventional breeding without the use of genetic engineering. More specifically, the coalition has criticised the fact that the ban on patenting plants that are produced by what essentially amounts to biological breeding processes, as decided in June 2017 by the EPO Administrative Council, was then made non-binding through a decision taken by the EPO Technical Office (see EUROPE 12220/14). “This situation is particularly advantageous for large companies such as Bayer, Syngenta and BASF that aim to monopolise seeds and plants”, says ‘No Patents on Seeds’. According to the organisation, the EPO has, despite the ban, recently granted patents on fruit and vegetables that have been produced without the use of genetic engineering. The report can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/2FtT49e (DG - intern)