<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.23588"></HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<P><BIG></BIG> </P>
<P><BIG>Hi,</BIG></P>
<P><BIG>It’s official and we won: <B>Conventionally-bred animals and plants are
not patentable.</B> [1] It may seem obvious to us, but corporations like Bayer
(buyer of Monsanto), Syngenta and Carlsberg fought hard against this outcome.
Without a patent, they cannot control and profit from the biological information
in those plants and animals! </BIG></P>
<P><BIG><B>This is a story of success and a story of people working together
hand in hand.</B> We’re so pleased to walk you through some of the exciting
highlights:</BIG></P>
<P><BIG>In 2016 we joined the predominantly German campaign against patents on
broccoli, tomatoes, barley and salmon. We quickly <B>mobilised across borders
and made the campaign a truly European effort.</B> A couple of months later a
broad alliance of organisations delivered 800,000 signatures saying “no” to
patents turning natural organisms into the private possessions of multinational
corporations. [2]</BIG></P>
<CENTER>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 1em"><IMG
alt="Man stands to right, holds red and green protest sign in front of group of protestors"
src="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/wemove.eu/files/demo_1.jpg?utm_source=civimail-30562&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200520_EN"
width=500></DIV>
<P><EM>In the summer of 2016, farmers, gardeners and activists delivered 800,000
signatures from all over Europe against patents on plants and animals to the
European Patent Office in Munich.</EM></P></CENTER>
<P><BIG>A petition wasn’t enough to get noticed at the European Patent Office
(EPO), <B>so we organised the largest official objection against a patent the
EPO had ever seen.</B> With partners <B>we filed almost 65,000 complaints
against a patent on a tomato,</B> signed by citizens from all over Europe. This
was huge - the EPO was so overwhelmed they couldn’t take them all in at once.
[3] </BIG></P>
<P><BIG>In June 2017, we confronted the EPO with a protest directly in Munich,
where they are based. Munich is all famous for their beer and tradition in
brewing. Munich has the Oktoberfest, a beer festival and fair with millions of
people pouring into the city. We started a campaign against a patent on barley,
brewing and beer and delivered our protest in a beer wagon, pulled by the
traditional 6 carriage horses. [4]</BIG></P>
<CENTER>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 1em"><IMG
alt="Four hourses pull cart, led by man in traditional german dress, European flags behind them"
src="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/wemove.eu/files/beer_2.jpg?utm_source=civimail-30562&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200520_EN"
width=500></DIV>
<P><EM>Delivering of hundreds of thousands of signatures in summer 2017 against
a patent on barley, brewing and beer Carlsberg company applied for. In the
background: the office building of the European Patent Office.</EM></P></CENTER>
<P><BIG>Then in July 2017 we already saw a huge win in Brussels. <B>The European
Union made it explicitly clear that plants and animals are not the inventions of
mankind, but of nature and therefore are a common good.</B> [5] Stubbornly, the
EPO refused to accept the decision but at least put all pending patent
applications on hold. Still they accepted new applications for patents on plants
and animals.</BIG></P>
<P><BIG><B>To keep the pressure up we returned to Munich a year later, in
September 2019, to welcome thousands of beer fans streaming to the
Oktoberfest.</B> They have to walk directly through a courtyard of the European
Patent Office. Our community crowdfunded thousands of flags calling for no
patents on beer. WeMove volunteers and activists handed out the flags and we
turned the stream of people into a demonstration. [6]</BIG></P>
<CENTER>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 1em"><IMG
alt="Three large banners displayed by protesters, outside street"
src="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/wemove.eu/files/oktoberfest.jpg?utm_source=civimail-30562&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200520_EN"
width=500></DIV>
<P><EM>Beer fans on their way to the Oktoberfest passing by the EPO and welcomed
by activists in four languages. Thousands of flags made it a demonstration for
no patents on beer, brewing and barley.</EM></P></CENTER>
<P><BIG>Finally, in summer 2019, we joined a broad coalition of environmental
and farming organisations to showcase that this was not only an issue with
plants, but also with various animals like pig, sheep and different species of
fish. <B>Together we filed an open letter and an official complaint against a
patent on salmon.</B> [7]</BIG></P>
<CENTER>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 1em"><IMG style="WIDTH: 500px"
alt="Seven people stand outside in semi-circle holding small placards"
src="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/wemove.eu/files/demo_2.jpg?utm_source=civimail-30562&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200520_EN"></DIV>
<P><EM>Summer in Munich again. Activists of a broad coalition are calling for an
end of patents on plants and animals and handing in our open letter against a
patent on salmon.</EM></P></CENTER>
<P><BIG>This is our side of the story. On the other side you can be certain
corporations were fighting tooth and nail, lobbying, spending a lot of money to
beat us. But <B>just last week the Enlarged Board of Appeal, the highest legal
body of the European Patent Office published their legal opinion.</B> On 14 May
2020 <STRONG>we won.</STRONG> We hope the decision will help to put an end to a
decade of complete legal absurdity and chaotic decision-making at the
EPO.</BIG></P>
<P><BIG>So often, when we win we are celebrating the combination of good
arguments, strong and experienced partners and the broad international
mobilisation of people power. It is <B>People power that we - the WeMove
Europe community - can contribute to the movement.</B> Each success is thanks to
everone that adds their signatures, shares our calls to action with
family and friends, and donates when they can.</BIG></P>
<P><BIG><B>Our special thanks go to our partners, No Patents on Seeds and
Campact.</B> In 2016 Campact invited us to join the campaign when they realised
that this was an issue that could only be solved on the European
level.</BIG></P>
<P><BIG>No Patents on Seeds is the true driver of this campaign. It’s thanks to
their expertise and persistent research that we had all the information at the
right moments to mobilise across borders and change decisions that impact us
all.</BIG></P>
<P><BIG>It’s always satisfying to celebrate a win, but we also know how strong
the interests of corporations are. They will search for loopholes. We have to be
on the watch. If you can afford to donate a small amount today, it will be a
huge help for our next fight against corporate power. <A
href="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=197854&qid=212988129"
rel=nofollow><B>Can you chip in?</B></A></BIG></P>
<P><BIG>In solidarity,<BR>David, Jörg (Germany), and the entire WeMove
Europe team</BIG></P>
<P> </P>
<P><SMALL>References:<BR>[1] This is the result of a verdict published on 14 May
2020 by the Enlarged Board of Appeal, the highest legal body of the European
Patent Office
(EPO)<BR>https:<SPAN>//www.epo</SPAN>.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/communications/2020/20200514.html<BR>[2]
https:<SPAN>//www.morgenpost</SPAN>.de/politik/article207750349/Gegen-Patent-auf-Gemuese-800-000-Unterschriften-uebergeben.html<BR>[3]
https:<SPAN>//taspo</SPAN>.de/kategorien/syngenta-einspruch-gegen-tomaten-patent/<BR>In
the end Syngenta withdraw their application for the patent on a tomato:
https:<SPAN>//www.slowfood</SPAN>.de/aktuelles/2019/nach-masseneinspruch-syngenta-patent-auf-tomaten-widerrufen<BR>[4]
https:<SPAN>//act.wemove</SPAN>.eu/campaigns/no-patents-on-beer and
https:<SPAN>//www</SPAN>.<SPAN>br</SPAN>.de/nachrichten/bayern/protest-vor-muenchner-epa-gegen-patentvergabe-auf-braugerste,6ct32e9m6cvk0chh6ww32c1k68wkc<BR>[5]
https:<SPAN>//european-seed</SPAN>.com/2017/07/european-patent-office-follows-eu-wishes-limits-patents-plants/<BR>[6]
https:<SPAN>//www.gen-ethisches-netzwerk</SPAN>.de/biopatente/wem-gehoert-das-bier<BR>[7]
https:<SPAN>//www.bioecoactual</SPAN>.com/en/2019/07/08/opposition-against-patent-on-salmon-and-trout/</SMALL></P>
<P> </P>
<STYLE type=text/css>BLOCKQUOTE .original-only {
DISPLAY: none !important
}
.WordSection1 .original-only {
DISPLAY: none !important
}
</STYLE>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: #808080; FONT-SIZE: 12px">WeMove
Europe is an independent and values-based organisation that seeks to build
people power to transform Europe in the name of our community, future
generations and the planet. </P><SPAN class=original-only>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: #808080; FONT-SIZE: 12px">WeMove
Europe is funded by donations from our community across Europe. Can you chip in
with a few euros a month and help make sure we can move fast to win the
campaigns that matter to all of us? Donate<A
style="COLOR: #941b80; TEXT-DECORATION: none"
href="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=197855&qid=212988129"
rel=nofollow>Donate</A></P>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: #808080; FONT-SIZE: 12px"><A
style="COLOR: #941b80; TEXT-DECORATION: none"
href="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=197856&qid=212988129"
rel=nofollow>Follow on Twitter </A>| <A
style="COLOR: #941b80; TEXT-DECORATION: none"
href="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=197857&qid=212988129"
rel=nofollow>Like on Facebook</A> | <A
style="COLOR: #941b80; TEXT-DECORATION: none"
href="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=197858&qid=212988129"
rel=nofollow>Subscribe on Youtube </A></P>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: #808080; FONT-SIZE: 12px">WeMove
Europe SCE mbH | Planufer 91 Berlin | <A
style="COLOR: #941b80; TEXT-DECORATION: none"
href="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=197859&qid=212988129"
rel=nofollow>www.wemove.eu</A> | <A
style="COLOR: #941b80; TEXT-DECORATION: none"
href="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=197860&qid=212988129"
rel=nofollow>Privacy policy</A></P><IMG border=0 alt=""
src="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/open.php?q=212988129"
width=1 height=1> <BR><IMG
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px"
border=0 alt=""
src="http://click.wemove.eu/oo/AVQAAAFMEUIAAcrjLBIAAACSP6EAAAAAACYAAAAAAAObfwBex9seU7kn7gO8S2qPU2k1yCT9IQADcqk/5d6d8baa/e.gif"
width=1 height=1>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=info@wemove.eu href="mailto:info@wemove.eu">David - WeMove Europe</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, May 22, 2020 6:01 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> BIG NEWS on PATENTS</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV></SPAN></BODY></HTML>