Intellectual Property Newsletter
Advocate general advises against Monsanto in DNA case
US biotech firm Monsanto cannot use its European patent on the DNA sequence of its Roundup Ready soybean seeds to block Argentinean imports of processed soybean meal into the EU, according the European Court of Justice advocate general.
Advocate general Paolo Mengozzi said, in a non-binding opinion, that: ‘The protection for a patent relating to a DNA sequence
is limited to the situation in which the genetic information is currently performing the function described in the patent.’
This does not cover soybean meal made from soybean seeds containing the patent.