Biotechnology and Intellectual Property: The Limits of Animal Patentability in the European Union

Mariia Golubei

Friedrich-Schiller Jena University , Germany
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2236-5011

Liliia Pankova

National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine , Ukraine
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0150-1571


Abstract

The study considers the possibility of patenting animal breeds as objects of intellectual property, taking into account the legislation and law enforcement practices of the European Union. It presents a retrospective analysis and detailed interpretation of the conventional and directive provisions related to the patent protection of animal breeds, and characterizes the differences between the latter and the microbiological process. It was observed that the position of the European Patent Office on this issue was not always unanimous, which was manifested in the contradictory interpretation of the relevant, not perfectly formulated, legislative norms. It was analyzed under what conditions the current position of the EU manifests itself in the fact that an animal breed, as a product of an exclusively biological process, cannot be subject to patent protection. In addition, the concepts of “biological” and “technical processes” were interpreted as additional criteria for patentability concerning living organisms. Attention was also paid to the ethical component of biotechnological inventions and the still problematic aspects of animal breeding as possible results of biotechnological activity were emphasized.

Keywords:

animal breeds, patent protection, biotechnology, European Patent Convention, European Patent Office



Barendse, William John. “DNAMarkers for Meat Tenderness.” EU Patent, EP1358356A1. February 8, 2002. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://patents.google.com/patent/EP1358356A1/en.

Berger, Alex B., and Kerstin Galler. “Regarding The Patentability Of Plants And Animals In Europe – The G 3/19 Decision (‘Pepper’) Of The European Patent Office.” Monaq, July 28, 2020. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.mondaq.com/germany/patent/970084/regarding-the-patentability-of-plants-and-animals-in-europe--the-g-319-decision-pepper-of-the-european-patent-office.

“Bioethics and Patent Law: The Case of the Oncomouse.” WIPO Magazine, no. 3 (2006). Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2006/03/article_0006.html.

Cumming, Ian. “A Method of Sorting Cells.” EU Patent, EP1263521A2, March 8, 2001. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://data.epo.org/publication-server/rest/v1.0/publicationdates/20021211/patents/EP1263521NWA2/document.html.

Dresser, Rebecca S. “Ethical and Legal Issues in Patenting New Animal Life.” Jurimetrics 28, no. 4 (1988): 399–435. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11698480_Ethical_and_legal_issues_in_patenting_new_animal_life.

Georges, Michael, Gregoire Blard, and Wouter Coppieters. “Method for Identifying Cows with Mastitis by Bulk Genotyping of Tank Milk.” EU Patent, EP2597159A1, November 28, 2011. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://patents.google.com/patent/EP2597159A1/en.

Gibbs, Davis, Lewis Holloway, Ben Glina, and Carol Morris. “’Genetic Techniques for Livestock Breeding: Restructuring Institutional Relationships in Agriculture.” Geoforum 40, no. 6 (2009): 1041–9. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016718509000992.

Jozwiak, Elizabeth T. “Worms, Mice, Cows and Pigs: The Importance of Animal Patents in Developing Countries.” Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business 14, no. 3 (1994): 620–41. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njilb/vol14/iss3/32/.

Kailuweit & Uhlemann. “Patentability of Plants and Animals at the European Patent Office – the Decision G 3/19 ‘Pepper’.” June 13, 2020. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://ku-patent.de/en/ekk-patentability-of-plants-and-animals-at-the-european-patent-office-the-decision-g-3-19-pepper/.

Kambic, Robert B. “Hindering The Progress Of Science: The Use Of The Patent System To Regulate Research On Genetically Altered Animals.” Fordham Urban Law Journal 16, no. 3 (1988): 441–65. https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol16/iss3/3.

Meeker, David L. “Patenting Animal Genetics and DNA-Based Processes: Implications for the Pork Industry.” The Professional Animal Scientist 11, no. 1 (1996): 35–40. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1080744615325481.

Moore, Kline, and Robert Frederickson. “Strong Roots: Comparative Analysis of Patent Protection for Plants and Animals.” IPWatchdog, August, 5, 2020. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://ipwatchdog.com/2020/08/05/strong-roots-comparative-analysis-patent-protection-animals-plants/id=123649/.

Olefir, Andrii. “To the Problem of Legal Protection of Biotechnology.” A Scientist’s View. Series: Theory and Practice of Intellectual Property, no. 1 (2015): 71–83. Accessed June 21, 2024. http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/Tpiv_2015_1_10.

Schaeffer, Lawrence R. “Dairy Cattle Test Day Models: A Case Study.” In Intellectual Property Rights in Animal Breeding and Genetics, edited by Max F. Rothschild and Scott Newman, 233–46. Oxford, U.K.: CABI Publishing, 2002.

Temmerman, Michelangelo. “M. Animal Breeders’ Rights?’.” Working Paper No 2011/24, Swiss national centre of competence in research, May 2011. Accessed June 21, 2024. http://surl.li/ddfknv.

Then, Christoph, and Ruth Tippe. “European Patents on Plants and Animals - Is the Patent Industry Taking Control of Our Food?.” No Patents on Seeds!, 2014. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/node/285.

Tvedt, Morten. “Patent Protection in the Field of Animal Breeding.” Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica 57, no. 3 (2007): 105–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09064700701878554.

Wilkof, Neil. “More on Broccoli, Tomatoes, and the Patentability of a Plant or Animal Obtained by Means of an Essentially Biological Process.” The IPKat, July 28, 2017. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2017/07/more-on-broccoli-tomatoes-and.html.

Download

Published
2024-12-20


Golubei, M., & Pankova, L. (2024). Biotechnology and Intellectual Property: The Limits of Animal Patentability in the European Union. Review of European and Comparative Law, 59(4), 289–308. https://doi.org/10.31743/recl.17670

Mariia Golubei 
Friedrich-Schiller Jena University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2236-5011
Liliia Pankova  pankoliliya@ukr.net
National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0150-1571



License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.