The Enlarged Board of Appeal of The European Patent Office has rendered its decision for two cases G 2/07 and G 1/08 providing and interpretation of the term "essentially biological processes for the production of plants".
The request for interpretation was submitted in 2007 by the technical board of appeal responsible for the appeals on the decisions of the opposition division in cases concerning EP1069819 (A method for selective increase of the anticarcinogenic glucosinalates in broccoli plant) and EP 1211926 (A method for breeding tomatoes having reduced water content and product of the method).
The Enlarged Board of Appeal concluded that a process for the production of plants involving sexually crossing whole plant genomes, and the subsequent selection of plants in not patentable. Moreover, for a process of plant production to be patentable, the sexual crossing and selection steps should not be in the claims.
The request for interpretation was submitted in 2007 by the technical board of appeal responsible for the appeals on the decisions of the opposition division in cases concerning EP1069819 (A method for selective increase of the anticarcinogenic glucosinalates in broccoli plant) and EP 1211926 (A method for breeding tomatoes having reduced water content and product of the method).
The Enlarged Board of Appeal concluded that a process for the production of plants involving sexually crossing whole plant genomes, and the subsequent selection of plants in not patentable. Moreover, for a process of plant production to be patentable, the sexual crossing and selection steps should not be in the claims.
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