European Patent, Plant Variety Offices Boost Cooperation

By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch

The European Patent Office (EPO) and Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) have announced will cooperate more closely in the area of plant-related patents and plant variety rights.

The 11 February release is available here [pdf].

The “administrative arrangement” was signed in Munich by CPVO President Martin Ekvad and EPO President Benoît Battistelli.

The issue of the interplay between patents and plant variety rights heated up last year when the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal upheld patents for plants or seeds obtained through conventional breeding methods, throwing plant breeders’ position into question.

The rulings prompted the European Parliament to ask the European Commission to investigate the matter, and the Netherlands, which holds the EU Presidency from 1 January – 30 June 2016, to promise to address the imbalance between the two systems (IPW, Biodiversity/Genetic Resources/Biotech, 19 January 2016). The EPO and CPVO said they wanted to increase their exchange of information on the subject.

The new accord contains several measures aimed at greater transparency between the organisation through shared working practices in connection with the use of their databases and other work tools, they said. There will also be joint training activities to raise technical awareness and legal expertise, and joint participation in conferences, courses, workshops and other meetings, they said.

Image Credits: CPVO