Brewers under fire for barley patent

A group of activists united in No patents on seeds today (Tuesday 8 June) makes a new attempt to ban patents on conventionally bred plants in the EU. What effect could this have on the development of new varieties and the price of seeds?

The Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPA) is considering the case filed against the patent EP2373154 on barley from brewers Carlsberg and Heineken. The underlying question in this case is whether natural plant properties may be claimed as private property. If the EPA goes along with the brewers' patent, this could have far-reaching consequences for breeding.

Then it is no longer possible to simply use all available plant properties. In addition, a patent holder has an exclusivity right to a plant characteristic, which probably makes starting material of crops with that characteristic more expensive. 

Patent EP2373154 describes (varietal) properties of barley that accelerate the brewing process and influence the shelf life and taste of beer. According to the alliance No patents on seeds, the changes in barley are based on random mutations and can therefore not be patented. Reference is made to decisions of the European Commission and the EPA from 2016 and 2017 in which it was agreed not to issue patents on traditional breeding processes. However, this does not apply retroactively to patents applied for before 2017. EP2373154 was filed in 2009.

hinders breeding
Some breeders fear that these (older) patents will hinder the development of new varieties. When a similar mutation occurs under other circumstances, this means that an existing patent has been infringed. "Only patenting genetically modified plants is expressly allowed in Europe," Christoph Then of No patents on seeds said at an online press conference. "Against this background, we want to have a fundamental decision that these patents cannot be enforced."

Jurphaas Lugtenburg

He is a market specialist in grains and other agricultural commodities at DCA Market Intelligence. He also focuses on onions, potatoes, and roughage. Jurphaas also runs an arable farm in Voorne-Putten (South Holland).

j.lugtenburg @boerenbusiness. Nl

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