Brussels, Belgium
December 11, 2012
Following a stalemate between Council and Parliament that lasted for almost a year, the EP today voted on a set of new rules that establish and govern the new “European patent with unitary effect”. With that, industry and public researchers now have the possibility to protect their intellectual property by a single application resulting in one title valid throughout the EU, which will cut costs and thus promote innovation, specifically for small and medium sized companies.
“This is a true milestone in our quest for clarification of the interface between patents and plant breeders’ rights.”, Garlich von Essen, Secretary General of ESA, the European Seed Association, comments on today’s adoption of the patent package by the European Parliament.
“The plant breeding sector welcomes this new IP tool. For plant varieties, we already had such a system with a single application and single IP title in the form of the Community plant variety right; this is now complemented by a similar system in the area of patents”.
But for plant breeders, the main issue in the discussion of the EU patent is the so-called “breeders’ exemption”. It allows the use of patent protected biological material for further breeding without any obligations towards the patent holder; however, should the newly bred variety still contain the patented invention of another breeder, a license is needed for its commercialization. “This is the cornerstone of plant breeding in Europe and of the ESA Position for IP protection for plant-related inventions: access to all plant genetic material for further breeding, and thus maximum support for further innovation, while safeguarding the rights and return of investment for the original patent holder when it comes to the commercial exploitation of the newly bred variety that carries his patented invention.”, Garlich von Essen explains. While such an exemption was already enshrined in national legislation in Germany and France, it was not available to breeders of the remaining 25 Member States, causing legal uncertainty and strong concerns of smaller breeding companies. The plant breeding sector had therefore lobbied hard for this specific addition to the new EU-wide patent system, an element not considered in the original Commission proposal, and during the discussions, there had been growing support in both Parliament and Council for the sector’s concern.
“We are extremely thankful for the strong support we have received from Members of the European Parliament, specifically from the rapporteur Bernhard Rapkay, the Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, and from Herbert Reul who tabled the original amendment for the breeders’ exemption. Without this continued support, this success would not have been possible.”, von Essen expresses his thanks to the EP.
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