Business & Economy

Indian farm organisations wrest
wheat patent from Monsanto

What is India News Service, Monday, 11 October 2004, 1900 hrs IST

Indian organisations emerged victorious as the Munich-based European Patent Office (EPO) acted upon their petition and revoked in "total" a patent given on an Indian wheat variety recently. 

The multinational corporation Monsanto was unable to file a contest against the petition challenging the patent in its favour.

The three organisations - Bharat Krishak Samaj (BKS) and Nandanya of India and Greenpeace of Germany - had taken the initiative to fight for Indian farmers to save the Indian wheat variety - Naphal - which was patented in EPO in Munich, Germany.

They had unitedly challenged the unjustified patenting on January 27, 2004.

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Overall:

Indian organisations wrested patent: The European patent office has revoked a patent it had given in favour of Monsanto.