Patents on brewing barley: Danger for diversity in beer glass!

Patents on brewing barley: Danger for diversity in beer glass!

München, Deutschland - The Danish brewery group Carlsberg has registered patents on barley plants from classic breeding and their use for brewing beer. This is due to considerable criticism from various organizations and breweries in Europe. Arche Noah, the network no patents on seeds!, The Carinthian private brewery Hirt and the organic brewery of Neumarkter Lammsbräu say that such patents could endanger diversity in plant breeding and in the beer range. The view of Dagmar Urban from Arche Noah is particularly worrying, which indicates that the patenting could significantly reduce the available malt types and beers.

The European Patent Office decided in 2017 that changes resulting from random mutations can also be patentable in this regard. This is considered problematic because such patents can hinder the development of new brewing barley. The affected barley variety, which is to be patented by Carlsberg, has random genetic changes that improve their properties, but have been created without the use of genetic engineering methods.

The legal framework

In Europe, the patenting of plants that emerged from conventional breeding processes is actually prohibited. Nevertheless, the topic is picked up again because the discussion about regulating patents on seeds gains driving. A hearing on this topic will take place on March 25, 2025 in Munich, in which Carlsberg is to be decided on the specific patent EP2575433. Christoph Then from the network no patents on seeds! demands that random mutations should not be considered an invention and thus be excluded from patentability.

In order to understand the consequences of such patents, it is important to take into account the mechanisms of patent rights in plant breeding. Expenses for the development of new varieties of plant are an average of 10-15 years, with the financing of seeds on the sale of seeds. Patents offer protection for technical inventions, while variety protection for the type of plant applies as a whole. In Switzerland, for example, plant varieties themselves cannot be patented, which is an important prerequisite for diversity in agriculture.

A call to diversity

The initiative of Arche Noah and the breweries involved aims to take out classic plant breeding from patentability. Such a regulation is already anchored in the Austrian Patent Act. Climate change also illustrates the need to further develop brewing grans in order to ensure a stable raw material supply in the long term.

in Brussels is currently being discussed on a new EU seed law and the regulation of the new genetic engineering. In view of the increasing number of patents, breeders could become increasingly difficult to develop new varieties. Studies show that generally no direct negative effects of intellectual property rights are expected on plant breeding, but there are increasing concerns about the consequences of increasing patentments, especially in the light of the new genetic engineering processes such as Crispr/Cas9.

The debate about patents on brewing barley and their potential effects on the diversity in the beer offer is not only at the center of the current legal dispute, but is also part of a more comprehensive discussion about the future of plant breeding and its regulation in Europe.