WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

existence today, WIPO has dwindled in importance on account of
TRIPS because the latter adheres more closely to WTO principles
and is therefore more able to represent the interests of the industrial
nations on account of its greater assertiveness. The European Patent
Office (EPO), which has its headquarters in Munich, can be regarded
as TRIPS’ European counterpart and very much the equal of the two
organisations mentioned above with regard to its submissiveness to
corporate desires.
The dawn of genetic engineering brought with it a drastic increase
in the number of applications for patents on living things, plants,
organisms or seeds. By the end of 2007, more than 65,000 applications
from the field of genetic engineering had been submitted to the
European Patent Office. Worldwide, almost 20,000 patents on human
genes have been applied for, 2,670 of which have already been granted
by the EPO. Of the 5,500 or so patent applications on animals, 667
have likewise been successful. More than 6,000 applications are related
to plants and 1,000 of these patents have already been issued.
The EPO granted a patent on pig-breeding to the U.S. corporation
Monsanto. It involves a method of breeding using a normal pig’s gene
and its variants, in order to breed pigs with greater feed conversion
efficiency. The patentee is entitled to claim fees not only for the use of
the methods, but also for the animals themselves and their offspring.
In January 2007, the EPO issued two patents on transgenic cows
with increased milk production (EP 1330552), this time involving a key
enzyme in the lipometabolism process, diacylglycerol acyltransferase.
Likewise in 2007, the U.S. company Pioneer was granted a patent on
a sunflower variety (EP 1465475 B1). The patented sunflowers were
not even genetically modified, their hereditary factors simply revealed
a higher resistance against a certain parasite in the soil which can
damage the roots. “Normal” broccoli, too, has already been patented
(EP 1069819 B1) and the list could be continued ad infinitum. Via
international agreements, such as the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) or the Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties
(UPOV), attempts are being made to secure a fairer distribution of
genetic resources. The EPO itself mentions limits to the patentability
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