Monsanto Monopoly Patent Under Scrutiny

ETC Group
News Release
April 28, 2003
www.etcgroup.org

Monsanto's Species-Wide Patent on Trial:

May 6-7, European Patent Office Hears Patent Challenge in Munich
- Eight and One-Half Years Later!

Remember 1994? Nine years ago: Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, and Shimon
Peres won the Nobel Peace Prize, Nelson Mandela was elected President of
South Africa, US President Bill Clinton sent ground troops to the Persian
Gulf to counter a move by Iraq's Saddam Hussein, and Brazil won the World
Cup. The United Nations' Biodiversity Convention entered into force in 1994
and the Uruguay Round of GATT was drawing to a close. In the "life sciences"
cosmos, Monsanto and Dupont were chemical companies with minor interests in
seeds and Syngenta did not yet exist. ETC Group was known as RAFI. Also in
1994, a small biotech subsidiary of W.R. Grace, Agracetus, won a
breathtakingly broad patent on all genetically modified soybean varieties,
European Patent No. 301,749.

On May 6-7, 2003, almost nine years after ETC Group (formerly known as RAFI)
officially challenged Agracetus/W.R. Grace's patent monopoly on all
genetically modified soybeans, the European Patent Office will hold an oral
hearing to decide the fate of one of agbiotech's most notorious patents. It
was the emergence of species-wide patents on soybeans and cotton in the
early 1990s that first galvanized governments, scientists and CSOs to
seriously question the morality and ethics of intellectual property in the
early 1990s. (1)

Specious Species Patent: On March 2, 1994 a US-based biotech company,
Agracetus (then-subsidiary of W.R. Grace & Co.), won a European patent on
all genetically engineered soybean varieties and seeds (regardless of the
genes used) and all methods of transformation (one of the patent's claims
actually extends beyond soya to other plant species!).(2) Even biotech
industry insiders were stunned by W.R. Grace's sweeping patent monopoly on
one of the world's major food crops. ETC Group, with the support of 18
civil society organizations worldwide, filed formal opposition to the patent
in December 1994.

ETC Group's 1994 "Notice of Opposition Against European Patent No. 301,749"
is available here: http://www.etcgroup.org/documents/occ_vol1_5.pdf

"ETC Group believes that EPO must throw out Monsanto's patent because it is
technically flawed and morally unacceptable," said Jim Thomas, the UK-based
Programme Officer of ETC Group. "We don't want the patent pruned - we want
it revoked," said Thomas. "After waiting nine years to get an oral hearing,
we are firm in our conviction that intellectual property jeopardizes world
food security, undermines conservation and use of biodiversity, and
increases the economic insecurity of farming communities. Instead of
promoting innovation, intellectual property is stifling research, limiting
competition and thwarting new discoveries," said Thomas.

At the European Patent Office in Munich, ETC Group will be represented by
Mr.. Daniel Alexander, a London-based barrister specializing in intellectual
property law. Mr. Alexander served as a commissioner on the United Kingdom's
Commission on Intellectual Property Rights. In Munich, ETC Group will join
Greenpeace and other civil society organizations that are actively involved
in opposing the patent. Stephan Geene, an activist who cooperates with
Greenpeace, was also among the original patent challengers in 1994. The EPO
has taken the unusual step of scheduling two days for the hearing and has
indicated that it will move to a bigger room to accommodate the interested
parties.

Musical monopoly chairs: ETC Group and Stephan Geene were not the only
parties to challenge the soybean patent back in 1994. We were joined by
agrochemical and seed industry giants who feared the patent would arrest
soybean research worldwide, including: Sandoz, Ciba Geigy, Monsanto, Dekalb,
Pioneer Hi-Bred. Where are they now? Sandoz and Ciba Geigy merged to become
Novartis in 1996, Monsanto took over Dekalb in 1998, and DuPont acquired
Pioneer Hi-Bred in 1999. RAFI changed its name to ETC Group in 2001.

Monsanto's About-Face: In 1994 Monsanto submitted an exhaustive, 292-page
opposition statement that shredded the technical merits of Agracetus's
soybean patent. Monsanto's lawyers wrote that the soybean patent should be
"revoked in its entirety," is "not... novel", "lacks an inventive step," and
"sufficient disclosure [of scientific method] is woefully lacking." But when
Monsanto acquired Agracetus in April 1996, it withdrew its challenge,
reversed its position and announced that it would defend its newly-acquired
patent!(3)

Soybean Superpower: Back in 1994, genetically modified soybeans were not
yet commercially available. In 1996, Monsanto acquired the Agracetus company
and its soybean patent - just one of many biotech companies and patents
Monsanto would devour in its binge buying to gain supremacy in ag biotech.

Last year, Monsanto accounted for all of the GM soya seed planted worldwide
-- occupying 36.5 million hectares in 2002 - that's over half of the 72
million hectares devoted to all soybeans worldwide. In other words,
Monsanto's exclusive monopoly claims extend to more than one-half of the
soya crop - one of the world's most important food feed and oilseed
crops.(4) Worldwide, the commercial soybean market was valued at over $22
billion in 2001. (5)

"The statistics speak for themselves," said Hope Shand, Research Director of
ETC Group. "Monsanto is the world's only GM soybean superpower, a single
company has been awarded monopoly control over one of the world's most
important food crops." "The existence of EP No. 301,749 has been and remains
a strong deterrent to any competition trying to challenge Monsanto's
dominance in GM soybean research and markets," said Shand.

"We realize that Monsanto's species-wide soybean patent is just one of the
factors behind Monsanto's present-day monopoly on GM soybeans, but this is a
dangerous precedent that cannot be allowed to stand," explained Shand.

While soya is a relatively minor crop in Europe, it is a major commodity in
other regions, including China, India, Argentina, Brazil and North America.
If Monsanto's patent is allowed to stand, it could set a dangerous
precedent.. Even the United States government struck-down the species-wide
cotton patent, and refused to allow broad claims on all GM soybeans.(6) Now,
nine years later, it's time for the EPO to act!

ETC Group will join Greenpeace Germany at a press conference in Munich on
Monday, 5 May, 11:00 hrs, the day before the EPO hearing on Monsanto's
patent. Hope Shand and Jim Thomas of ETC Group will attend the EPO hearing
and will be available to respond to media inquiries.

For more information:

Hope Shand, ETC Group (USA) hope@etcgroup.org -- 919 960-5223
Jim Thomas, ETC Group (UK) jim@etcgroup.org -- cell: 44 (0)7752 106806
Silvia Ribeiro, ETC Group (Mexico) siliva@etcgroup.org -- from outside
Mexico City: +52 55 2653 3330 Calling within Mexico City: 44 55 2653 3330
Hope Shand and Jim Thomas can be reached in Munich, May 5-7, cell: 44 7752
106806

For additional information about the press conference in Munich, please
contact:

Uli Brendel, Greenpeace Germany Ulrike.Brendel@greenpeace.de
Phone: + 49-171-87 80 844 (cell)