Dear All

I am sitting in an UPOV-Seminar and just listened to a presentation by Bo Gertsson - Group manager at the Plant breeding department in Lantmännen Lantbruk – probably one of the bigger breeding companies in Scandinavia.   (the presentation is public and could be used)

He concludes:

• The limited breeding exemption in the EU’s unitary patent should be incorporated in the national legislation in all EU countries

• Mutations created through random (contrary to targeted) mutagenesis should not be patentable

• The concept of “essentially biological processes” is very important

• Screening segregating offspring and developing markers is standard knowledge and should not be patentable

• It is difficult for Small and Medium Enterprises to compete with Big Business when they have to navigate in a patent environment

Questioned about his position on random mutagenesis, he answered that it is most of all because the industry needs trust from the farmers and consumers – and that they are (rightly) very critical about power in agriculture …

Best

François