Patents: Blessed is whoever invented the bushy watermelon

Everyone sometimes happens to see an object or thing and think: who would have thought of that?! In a world of technological advancement and constant search for innovations, patents are the basis for protecting intellectual property, as well as encouraging creativity. However, while many patents throughout history have brought revolutionary ideas and innovations that advance society, there are also those that provoke ridicule, but also concern.

Extreme Precedent

A few days ago, the European Patent Office (EPO) rejected an objection filed against BASF’s patent on bushy-growing watermelons. BASF is one of the leading chemical companies in the world, so it is not surprising that an organization called No Patents on Seeds! filed an objection to BASF’s patent. The organization claims that the patent is not inventive and that patents on conventionally bred plant varieties are prohibited.

Namely, bushy growth of plants was an accidental occurrence and, according to the patent description, the plants were simply a discovery in a home garden. The EPO granted the patent in 2021 because the patent owner applied an additional well-established method (for creating triploid plants) to reduce the number of seeds. However, it is clear that neither the applied method nor the discovery of bushy growth is based on an invention.

Christoph Then, a coordinator at No Patents on Seeds!, says that the EPO’s decision is in direct contradiction to the law and fundamental principles of the patent system.

– No one can claim a right to an invention if the discovery is combined with well-known methods, and the results are not surprising. The prohibitions on the patentability of conventionally bred plants are seriously violated. This decision sets an extreme precedent regarding lifetime patents – Then said.

Privilege of the Big

According to European patent law, patents on plant varieties are generally prohibited and can only be granted if the characteristics of the plant are obtained through genetic engineering. Otherwise, the organization No Patents on Seeds! monitors new patents daily and fights against the increasing number of patents on plants and seeds, which negatively affects farmers, breeders, innovations, and biodiversity. They also believe that such patents are ‘an abuse of patent law and endanger access to essential resources in agriculture and food production.’

In Europe, the law on the protection of plant varieties guarantees that breeders can use all conventionally bred varieties for cultivation. In contrast, patents can be used to obstruct or block access to biodiversity, which is necessary for all breeders.

– If such patents are granted, only large companies can survive in the long run, which will then decide what will be grown and harvested, as well as which food will be marketed at what price – say the organization No Patents on Seeds!.

The organization plans to appeal the EPO’s decision and demands that politicians take their responsibility seriously and finally enforce existing prohibitions in patent law, as patents on conventionally bred plants and animals must be stopped. The Austrian government has already decided to amend national patent laws as a first step, and other European countries may soon follow, which the organization hopes for warmly. And while a battle over patented seeds is being fought in Europe, new inventions and ideas are flourishing in other parts of the world.

Dominance of China

In addition to the European Patent Office, there is also an umbrella organization operating under the UN. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) monitors hundreds of thousands of patents in various industries, but it also tracks from which countries all these patents come. Some countries, of course, lead in patent applications, and according to WIPO data for 2021, out of 1,608,375 patents in various fields, as much as 87 percent were granted to innovators from just six countries. At the top of that list is China, which has sharply increased the number of patent applications in recent years. Of the 36 fields or sectors that WIPO reviews, China was at the top of the list in as many as 29, including computer technologies, electrical machines, and digital communications. The focus of the Chinese government on innovation has led to applicants from the country receiving 38 percent of the 1.6 million patents granted in 2021.

After China, there are the United States, home to the largest technology companies in the world. However, although there is a large concentration of luminaries and inventors in the US, in 2021 they were granted just over 286,000 patents, which is not insignificant, but compared to China, it is. This surely does not please the US, but it is probably easier for it as it led in four fields with its patents. These are medical technology, engines and turbines, basic communication processes, and unknown (for inventions that cannot be attributed to any field).

Japan is not lagging behind either, with 256,890 granted patents. Japan dominates other nations in the field of semiconductors, optics, furniture, and games, solidifying its well-deserved reputation as a country of technological innovation. Applicants of ‘unknown’ origin, for whom the nationality or country of residence of the inventor could not be determined, accounted for 24,677 granted patents.

Where We Stand

As for Croatia, the latest published data is also for 2021. The State Intellectual Property Office (DZIV) received 88 patent applications in 2021. Of these, 77 applications were from domestic and 11 from foreign applicants. Of the total number of applications from domestic applicants, 68.8 percent of patents were filed by individuals, and 31.2 percent by legal entities. Among foreign applicants, individuals had 72.7 percent of applications, while legal entities had 27.3 percent of applications. If we look at patent applications by technical field, in 2021, the largest share of applications was in the field of general engineering (37%), followed by the field of chemistry (30.1%), and the smallest number of applications was from the field of metrology (9.2%). Ultimately, only 58 out of 88 patent applications were recognized.

If we look at the numbers, Croatia ranks second to last in the EU in terms of the number of registered patents, meaning we are better only than Romania, which holds the bottom of that list. According to EPO data, Croatia had 3.4 patents per million inhabitants in 2018. Romania, as the last, had 2.4 patents per million inhabitants, while Slovenia had 38 patents per million inhabitants. The average for the Union for that year was as high as 139 patents per million inhabitants, which best shows where we stand when it comes to creativity, inventions, and patents.

How to Submit a Patent

In Croatia, patents are submitted to the State Intellectual Property Office. To submit an application, it is necessary to fill out a patent application, which contains a description of the invention, patent claims, a summary, and drawings if referenced in the description of the invention. When submitting, it is also necessary to provide proof of payment of procedural costs and administrative fees, as well as the mentioned text of the patent application.

The patent recognition process begins with the submission of the application to the Office. After determining the submission date, a legal period of 18 months begins during which the technical content of the application is kept confidential. During this period, a formal examination of the patent application is conducted, determining whether it meets all legal requirements for publication. The application is published in the Croatian Gazette of Intellectual Property after the 18-month period. It is important to note that although the patent recognition process can take several years, protection is conditionally granted from the date of submission of the patent application. There are also certain costs associated with applying for a patent, which are generally not excessive. Finally, it should be added that patent protection lasts for 20 years and is valid only in the territory of the country where the right is recognized.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR INVENTORS What a patent must satisfy

The essential conditions that an invention must meet for patent recognition are novelty in relation to the existing state of the art, inventive step (i.e., non-obviousness to someone skilled in the relevant technical field), and industrial applicability (i.e., practical applicability on an industrial scale). A patent is obtained through recognition by an authorized body, usually based on the examination of the patent application that describes the invention in a legally prescribed manner. The authorized body can be a national patent office (in the Republic of Croatia, this is the State Intellectual Property Office), but also a regional patent office that examines the patent application for several countries in a region (for the Republic of Croatia as a member of the European Patent Organization, this is the European Patent Office). Patent protection is granted according to the territorial principle, i.e., it is valid only in the territory of the state or region where it is recognized. To obtain patent protection for their invention, the applicant is obliged to disclose the technical details of their invention to the extent that allows a person skilled in the relevant field to make or use the invention. Such a description of the invention becomes publicly available to all interested parties after the prescribed period of confidentiality. In other words, the patent system is actually a kind of exchange in which the inventor agrees to disclose to society the details of their invention, in order to enable technological advancement, in exchange for the right to exclusive disposal for a certain period. (Source: State Intellectual Property Office)