Some stakeholders are worried that there will be a huge wave of [plant] patents rolling over the European market with NGTs [new genomic techniques]. The assumption that every patent applied for will become a granted patent is, however, far from true. As reported in the CLE [CropLife Europe] study, not everything is patentable, and there are exceptions to patentability.

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Should they be granted, patents, like PVP, are IP titles that avoid copying by others for a certain period in compensation for the creative efforts of their holder. If, by using a commercial variety containing a patented trait identified with PINTO, a breeder creates a new variety under the breeder’s exemption containing the patented trait, he may need to obtain a license from the patent holder to commercialize it. This has worried some breeders about how to commercialize their new varieties and that the cost for a license might supposedly be exorbitant.

To address these concerns, the majority of seed companies in Europe have committed to license their patented traits to any breeder asking for it, through licensing platforms.  Notably there are two licensing platforms covering the EU, the ILP for vegetables⁵, created in 2014, and the ACLP, for agricultural crops⁶, created in 2023. Both oblige their members holding patents on traits to commit granting a license on their patent on fair conditions to any other member requesting it for a new variety created under the breeder’s exemption. … Parties are thereby incentivized to make realistic proposals, as theirs would otherwise likely be rejected. In over 10 years of existence in the ILP Vegetables, the baseball arbitration has never been activated despite many license agreements having been executed between its members.

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Not only do patents not hinder breeding, but they also generate much value to farmers and society. Some years ago, an economic study was published about the patented Ogura trait developed by the French research institute INRAE and licensed to the seed sector developing oilseed rape varieties. This study demonstrated that 80% of the economic value generated with a patented trait has gone to the farmers and to the downstream users in the value chain up to consumers.

The CLE member companies believe that with strong PVP and patents, companies will be incentivised to develop NGT plants. Together with the transparency and licensing tools that have been developed, NGT plants will be accessible to all breeding companies whatever their size, thereby enabling European farmers to be competitive and have access to such plants in a large offering of varieties from the whole European breeding sector.

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