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To the European Patent Office and Carlsberg
Petition
We demand that the European Patent Office (EPO) takes urgent action to protect the common good by stopping patent monopolies on seeds. As a result, they must close all loopholes in current patent law that allow companies to create monopolies on the use of our fruits, vegetables and seeds. Until they do this, there has to be a moratorium on patent applications for conventionally bred plants and animals!
Why is this important?
Patents create monopolies: fruits, vegetables and seeds claimed in patents cannot be used by other farmers for further breeding without the permission of the patent holder. This means that a handful of large corporations get far-reaching control over our daily food production - they will decide what we eat, what farmers produce, what retailers sell and how much we all have to pay for it.
No one should be able to own the exclusive right to grow and sell fruits, vegetables or seeds. It sounds obvious but this is what we fought for more than four years to prevent. And we won. Last year, the European Patent Office (EPO) officially accepted that conventionally bred plants are not patentable. [1]
But companies like Bayer-Monsanto, DowDupont, Heineken and Carlsberg have found ways to undo that win by finding legal loopholes to register new patents on melons, basil or barley. [2]
What they are doing is pretty sneaky: it’s called ‘technical topping’ and it’s a way to exploit the loopholes introduced by the European Patent Office. [3] While patents on conventionally bred plants are prohibited, patents on breeding by means of genetic engineering, including new methods such as genome editing can be patented. [4]
Now companies can try to blur the distinction between conventional breeding and genetic engineering. In practice, this means that seeds to make beer, basil or melons can still be claimed as an invention.
We already got the EPO to listen to us through a huge petition, filing thousands of complaints against a patent on tomatoes, and a protest in Munich at the Oktoberfest beer festival. [5]
As the EPO meets next week, it’s time to remind them that we’re still here and we won’t allow them to cancel our win. Right before they meet, our partners will dress up as screaming vegetables (see photo below) in front of EPO’s office in Munich and hand over our signatures.
References:
- https://www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/communications/2020/20200514.html
https://www.sdhsprogram.org/european-patent-office-plants-animals-obtained-classical-breeding-not-patentable/ - https://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/sites/default/files/news/No%20patents%20on%20seeds%20-%20Overview%202018-2019_1.pdf
- https://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/news/G3-19
- https://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/news/report2020
- https://www.wemove.eu/big-win-patents
In partnership with:
Tell Carlsberg to drop of all its patents on seeds!
All you have to do is:
1. Copy the url below:
https://youtu.be/gkm7drX0YSM
2. Click on the button to the right, so that you are directed to a recent post on Carlsberg’s Facebook.
3. Paste the video as a comment
4. Optional: Add any additional message you want, as simple as "For Carlsberg" or "From WeMove" or any other message you wish to say
Like any company, Carlsberg cares about its public image. So if each of us share a video exposing Carlsberg’s role in trying to control our food production on their social media pages, we can keep the pressure up.
With thousands of us acting together they could drop ALL of their patents on barley.
Tweet to Carlsberg
Like any company, Carlsberg cares about its public image. So if each of us share a video exposing Carlsberg’s role in trying to control our food production on their social media pages, we can keep the pressure up. With thousands of us acting together they could drop ALL of their patents on barley patents.
Share the video of the protest to make sure Carlsberg knows we won’t stop until there are #NoPatentsonSeeds!
Send a tweet
Please can you chip in?
We have been fighting against patenting nature since 2016. Thanks to thousands of donations, 65,000 complaints filed to the European Patent Office, and delivering our demands in horse-drawn carriages, we won.
Will you donate towards a small fighting fund to make sure there are no patents on seeds?
Would you like to make a donation in British pounds (GBP)? You can do it here.
Other ways of giving
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WeMove Europe SCE mbH
IBAN: DE98 4306 0967 1177 7069 00
BIC: GENODEM1GLS, GLS Bank
Berlin, Germany
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Your personal information will be kept private and held securely. By submitting information you are agreeing to WeMove Europe keeping you informed about campaigns and agree to the use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy.
Can you spread the word?
Free the seeds! Save the future of our food
Next step - spread the word
Free the seeds! Save the future of our food