Germany opposes EPO decision

GERMAN MINISTRY OF JUSTICE OPPOSES DECISION OF EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE

Greenpeace accuses EPO?s president of breaking law in issuing patents on life

Hamburg, 1 Dec. 99 -- The unilateral decision taken by the European Patent Office's Administrative Council last June to implement the European Union's directive on patenting life has been criticised by the German Ministry of Justice. German Minister of Justice Herta Daeubler-Gmelin has stated in a letter to Greenpeace that the EPO?s decision was made without legal basis.

Since 1 September, the EPO is allowing patents on plants and animals. Even patents on human genes and parts of the human body have been declared legal. The German Ministry at first approved the decision in June, only to withdraw its approval in October. Greenpeace regards the EPO decision to allow patenting along the lines of the EU directive to be a violation of the present law and therefore approached the Justice Ministry.

According to Harta Daeubler-Gmelin, The German delegation on 13 October 1999 submitted a formal statement saying that the question of the patentability of biotechnological inventions was highly controversial politically in Germany, that this political aspect had not been sufficiently taken into account in the vote in June, and that Germany was in accord with the line taken by France, which, as the only member country to do so, had voted against the change in the implementing regulations in June.

The unexpected decision by the EPO Administrative Council last June was the initiative of the President of the Office, Ingo Kober, who in so doing fulfilled the wishes of the genetic engineering industry. ?Mr Kober is responsible for this breach of the law,? says Greenpeace?s genetic engineering expert, Christoph Then. ?He must now reverse the decision.?

The explosive effect of implementing the EU directive at the EPO can be seen in the case of the human chromosome 22, which has now been successfully decoded by British researchers. Only by publishing their results (*) can these scientists prevent a commercial company from having the whole chromosome patented. ?It is to be feared, however,? says Then, ?that applications for particular genes in chromosome 22 were made to the Patent Office long ago. A lot of companies are currently researching the human genome and want to have everything they discover immediately and exclusively patented.?

As the genetic engineering industry matures and its interest in privatising the very basis of life intensifies, the European Patent Office is intervening in public policy making, which is not its role. ?The Patent Office is unlawfully abrogating the right to make crucial decisions regarding our future,? says Then. ?Until now, the Office was responsible for issuing intellectual property rights over such things as screws and engines; now it wants to grant corporate monopolies on genes and human organs.This turns patent law upside down. Only inventions can be patented -- not discoveries such as genes or natural processes like reproduction.?

The Office has a clear commercial incentive to push policy boundaries because it is financed not by taxpayers' money but by fees for issuing successful patents. In 1998, the EPO earned a profit of 250 million German marks on an income of 1.3 billion marks.

The EPO is not an institution of the European Union.

Greenpeace is today publishing a study entitled Gene, Monopole und Life Industry. It shows the far-reaching consequences of patenting life. ?What this is ultimately about is the question: who does nature belong to?

Medicinal plants from primary forests are as much affected as the question of whether worldwide monopolies on seeds are to be allowed. Genetic engineering corporations are abusing patent law in order to appropriate nature?s heritage for themselves.? Greenpeace calls for a ban on the patenting of life and its genes.

(*) See Nature, London, 2 December 1999
http://www.nature.com

For further information, please contact

Mr Christoph Then Greenpeace Germany Tel/Fax: (49-40) 30 61 83 95 Email: Christoph.Then(at)greenpeace.de