- Npos_2018 - lists.testbiotech.de

update on the report patent research and upcoming media work
by Christoph Then 02 Mar '22

02 Mar '22

Dear all the work on the report is a little bit more complex than I thought. The reason: We see more and more patents which are claiming genes, genetic variations (SNPs) and all plants inheriting it, no matter how these genes are introduced. I now identified about 20 relevant cases from 2021 patent applications, many of them really shocking, I think we should do our best to tell the story properly. This will take some time (April? May?). As I wrote previously, such patents were granted in the past already, such as the patent on melons etc. from ENZA. In these cases, very few genetic variations were claimed in many species. The current patent applications often claim many genetic variations in many species. Most relevant are Syngenta, KWS, Corteva, Keygene (which cooperates with Bayer), Nunhems and also other breeders from NL such as RIJK ZWAAN. To exemplify the problem for our our meeting tomorrow, I attach a patent application from Syngenta and its friends in China (WO2021000878) on soybeans with rust resistance. The number is brackets can be found in the pdf: It starts with seeds from a gene bank (genetic variations found in strain SX6907 [0010, 0013, 0014], crossing and selection to introduce these genes, progeny which inherit the ‘marker genes’ [0016], harvested products. on pages 28 – 57, you see table 1 with all the genetic variations found in the seeds of SX6907. In the examples [305], you find the examination of SX6907 (from Chinese seed bank), [308] ff transgenic plants and [342] ff genome edited plants the claims cover (see number of the claims, as starting on page 117): (1) all relevant glycine plants in which the SNPs are introduced (by any method). (3-4) plants from genetic engineering /transferring of genes (8-14) plants with SNP markers (table 1) - note: these are not only 'markers', but the relevant genetic variations needed to confer rust resistance. (15-17) plants from genome editing (18 ff) transgene plants (46 – 47) genes and proteins (54-56) using of the genes in crossing and selection (71-72) rust resistance in other plant species, based on genetic equivalents. I think these cases are highly relevant, but not so easy to analyse and communicate. We have to to do in a way that the message comes across. I think we also can use these examples to alert the CRISPR-community. Thus I continue to work on these examples. In addition I suggest, for media work in March, to use the patent applications on gluten free beer. It looks like we will not get further information on the case, and now can prepare for public communication. I hope (if we agree) I can send some draft next. so let us discuss tomorrow Christoph

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Important: Update Meeting of Members
by Johanna Eckhardt 02 Mar '22

02 Mar '22

Dear all, I just sent you the message below via Proton. You can find the attached documents on Proton. Best, Johanna --- Dear all, here are some minor updates for the Meeting of Members: * We slighly changed the agenda (Doc. 1). Changes are marked in yellow. Instead of the conference call we reserved 1h for any other updates (point 14). I included as well the list of participants. We have a quorum. * We have received the report of the cash auditor (Ruth) - see attached in EN and DE (Doc. 8/9). * There is a minor update in Doc. 6 "Planning and budget 2022" in the table of the expected costs for 2022 on page 3 (marked in green). * Martha as the first chairperson of the board will chair the meeting. We propose that Verena will lead us through the first part of the meeting and that Erling will lead us through the discussion. We propose that I take the minutes of the first part and Anne-Charlotte of the discussion. - We can decide on that at the beginning of the meeting. * Here is the link to the Zoom meeting: * <https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84673334605?pwd=R3Rtekx5MGcrQ1BxYzZ0cklRSSsrQT09> https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84673334605?pwd=R3Rtekx5MGcrQ1BxYzZ0cklRSSsrQT09 * Passcode: 015268 * Webinar ID: 846 7333 4605 I am attaching all the documents again. Only Doc.1 and Doc.6 have been updated. New documents are Doc. 8/9. See on on Thursday, Best, Johanna Mag. Johanna ECKHARDT Project Coordination Tel. +43 680 21 26 343 <mailto:johanna.eckhardt@no-patents-on-seeds.org> johanna.eckhardt(a)no-patents-on-seeds.org NO PATENTS ON SEEDS! <http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/> www.no-patents-on-seeds.org <http://www.facebook.com/nopatentsonseeds> www.facebook.com/nopatentsonseeds <http://www.twitter.com/nopatentsonseed> www.twitter.com/nopatentsonseed

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answer from Giulio
by Christoph Then 01 Mar '22

01 Mar '22

Thanks Johanna!! We also will send kicker very soon which will add more signatures, although will likely be delayed due to our communication on Ukraine crisis. Let's discuss in tomorrow's call about connecting all the different petitions, thanks:)

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WeMove 100.000 signatures
by Johanna Eckhardt 01 Mar '22

01 Mar '22

Dear all, WeMove launched the petition and has already reached 100.000 signatures. Congratulations and big thank you to Giulio! https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/nopatents-conference The text of the WeMove-petition is available in DE/EN/ES/FR/IT/NL/PL! I shared postings in all languages on Facebook and Twitter. Feel free to share! Best, Johanna Mag. Johanna ECKHARDT Project Coordination Tel. +43 680 21 26 343 <mailto:johanna.eckhardt@no-patents-on-seeds.org> johanna.eckhardt(a)no-patents-on-seeds.org NO PATENTS ON SEEDS! <http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/> www.no-patents-on-seeds.org <http://www.facebook.com/nopatentsonseeds> www.facebook.com/nopatentsonseeds <http://www.twitter.com/nopatentsonseed> www.twitter.com/nopatentsonseed

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Notebook working again
by Johanna Eckhardt 01 Mar '22

01 Mar '22

Dear all, my Notebook is working again - and I can work again! :-) Best, Johanna Mag. Johanna ECKHARDT Project Coordination Tel. +43 680 21 26 343 johanna.eckhardt(a)no-patents-on-seeds.org NO PATENTS ON SEEDS! www.no-patents-on-seeds.org www.facebook.com/nopatentsonseeds www.twitter.com/nopatentsonseed -----Original Message----- From: Npos_2018 [mailto:npos_2018-bounces@testbiotech.de] On Behalf Of Christoph Then Sent: Monday, February 28, 2022 3:09 PM To: npos_2018(a)testbiotech.de Subject: [Npos_2018] Johanna has breakdown of her laptop she is out of reach. in case of urgency: johannaeckhardt(a)yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Npos_2018 mailing list Npos_2018(a)testbiotech.de https://lists.testbiotech.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/npos_2018

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Johanna has breakdown of her laptop
by Christoph Then 28 Feb '22

28 Feb '22

she is out of reach. in case of urgency: johannaeckhardt(a)yahoo.com

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! update hearing 10 May on Carlsberg
by Christoph Then 28 Feb '22

28 Feb '22

Dear all just a short update on the ongoing preparation for the hearing on 10 of May. (1) on the legal side, this case may becoming highly interesting. It its last written statement, the EPO wrote: „It will be discussed whether any particular technical effect can be associated with the claimed products. If the number of plants can be screened in manner which is not an undue burden and can adequately reproduced (...), OD is of the preliminary opinion that provision of an arbitrary plant with mutations in known genes not associated with any particular effect is obvious and contravenes Art 56 EPC.“ This could mean, Art 56 could become decisive not only for this case, but also for other patents: As I understand the question, the Opposition Division (OD) of the EPO may come to the conclusions that non-targeted mutagenesis (in general) is not technical nor inventive because it only delivers large number of plants with lots of mutations which have to undergo screening to find the technical 'solution'. Especially, if the gene which is expected for potential mutations is known before (as it is the case with Carlsberg and many other cases) such a process is obvious and not inventive. Finally, this is especially relevant for cases in which no new genetic information is generated (as it is the case with Carlsberg and many other cases), but just the normal genetic function is disabled (knock-down effect) From a legal point, this is a nice move, many of our arguments (which so fare were only tested under Art 53 (b) can be addressed within this context. I am just working on a submission by No Patents on Seeds which has to be delivered till 10 of March. Because I am working with patent attorney in Germany, the submission will be in German. Let me if you want to read the first draft. (2) For public activities: This is a real joint opposition, involving organisations (such as WeMove) and some individuals. In addition, there is a second opposition by Austrian brewers. We have to inform an alert them. Furthermore, we should consider a media conference with the free brewers and Austrian brewers (online?). We can present latest findings on beer patents or the new report. Since the hearing is virtual, it is not convincing to hold a organize a public activity in front of the EPO, but we also should consider how to visualize our campaign (existing material, new material?) I think, we should use the annual meeting also for some exchange on this hearing. Cheers Christoph

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new patent granted for Carlsberg
by Christoph Then 24 Feb '22

24 Feb '22

just about the method to perform mutagenesis and identify the plants. No need to react immediately but we should aware of that this patent is granted (it was already on our list of pending patents).

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Welcome Andreas Riekeberg
by Christoph Then 22 Feb '22

22 Feb '22

dear all, Dachverband Kulturpflanzen- und Nutztiervielfalt e. V. is a new member, represented by Andreas. Welcome! Christoph

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IMPORTANT: Documents for meeting of members
by Johanna Eckhardt 17 Feb '22

17 Feb '22

Dear all, I just sent you all relevant documents for the meeting of members via Proton <https://protonmail.com/> . Please let me know if you are going to attend or if you will be represented by another organisation so that we can make sure beforehand to have a quorum (10 out of 20 members have to be present/represented). And welcome to Andreas Riekeberg (CC) from Dachverband Kulturpflanzen- und Nutztiervielfalt e.V. to our group! He will attend the meeting of members. So we'll have the opportunity to get to know each other there. Best, Johanna Mag. Johanna ECKHARDT Project Coordination Tel. +43 680 21 26 343 <mailto:johanna.eckhardt@no-patents-on-seeds.org> johanna.eckhardt(a)no-patents-on-seeds.org NO PATENTS ON SEEDS! <http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/> www.no-patents-on-seeds.org <http://www.facebook.com/nopatentsonseeds> www.facebook.com/nopatentsonseeds <http://www.twitter.com/nopatentsonseed> www.twitter.com/nopatentsonseed

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