The Max Planck Society (MPS), a German research funding organization, its technology transfer agency Garching Innovation GmbH, and Bayer CropScience AG announced today a new licensing deal whereby Bayer is appointed exclusive licensee of the Agrobacterium transformation technology invented more than 20 years ago and which will result in a European Patent claiming broadly transgenic plants on November 26, 2003.

The decision of the European Patent Office (EPO) to issue the patent closely follows the unanimous decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which awarded the team of inventors of the MPS patent application priority of invention in the U.S. for a modified version of the tumor-inducing plasmid of Agrobacterium. Therein, the genes for the natural tumorigenic functions had been replaced by a plant gene of interest. The USPTO decision also extends to related claims concerning plant transformation processes and transgenic products which can be obtained using such processes.

“We are delighted that the European Patent is finally being issued and that the USPTO has resolved this dispute in MPS’s favour” said Bernward Garthoff, Chief Technology Officer for Bayer CropScience AG. “Although the USPTO decision is contested, these decisions nevertheless constitute an important milestone in the longest running patent battle in the history of plant biotechnology. We’re glad that the EPO and the USPTO have recognized the contribution of Patricia Zambryski, Josef Schell, Jean-Pierre Hernalsteens, Marc Van Montagu, Luis Herrera-Estrella and Jan Leemans, the inventors on the MPS patent application, to the development of the agrobiotech industry”.

Agrobacterium is a plant parasite that can cause tumor development on plants. The invented technology has permitted researchers to exploit the natural genetic engineering capacities of the bacteria into a practical and fundamental tool for the production of transgenic plants, and marked the birth of modern plant biotechnology.

“Beneficial products developed using our patented technology are important to farmers and other companies involved in the improvement of crop plants, and Bayer CropScience has a well-established track record of broadly licensing technologies to other companies,” Garthoff said.

The Max Planck Society, one of Germany’s largest non-profit research organizations, is comprised of eighty individual institutes each of which conducts research in areas of the natural sciences and the humanities. As the technology transfer agency for the Max Planck Society, Garching Innovation GmbH (www.garching-innovation.de) fosters and manages relationships between the Max Planck institutes and the biotech and pharmaceutical industry for the commercialization of inventions and know-how discovered or created at the Max Planck institutes.

Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of some EUR 6 billion, is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, seeds and plant biotechnology, as well as non-agricultural pest control. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 20,000 and is represented in 122 countries, ensuring proximity to dealers and consumers.