On Monday 16 September in Strasbourg, MEPs will question the European Commission on actions to be taken to ban the patentability of products obtained from essentially biological processes.
The European Parliament Committee on Agriculture has called for a new resolution from the European Parliament advocating such a ban (see EUROPE 12320/9).
The plenary debate takes place ahead of the 1 October deadline for submitting statements on the patentability of naturally obtained plants to the final appeal body of the European Patent Office (EPO).
The European Parliament will reiterate its calls for barrier-free access to plant breeding material, in order to promote innovation, genetic variation of crops and protect EU citizens’ health.
In March 2015, the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) decided in the tomato (G0002/12) and broccoli (G0002/13) cases that products obtained from essentially biological processes, such as crossing, could obtain patent protection.
After the European Commission intervened in November 2016, the EPO amended its policy so as not to grant patents on products obtained from essentially biological breeding processes. However, the EPO's Technical Board of Appeal rejected this decision in December 2018. The final decision should be issued by the EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)