T 1242/06 (Tomatoes/STATE OF ISRAEL) of 04.04.2008
- European Case Law Identifier
- ECLI:EP:BA:2008:T124206.20080404
- Date of decision
- 4 April 2008
- Case number
- T 1242/06
- Petition for review of
- -
- Application number
- 00940724.8
- Language of proceedings
- English
- Distribution
- Published in the EPO's Official Journal (A)
- Download
- Decision in English
- Other decisions for this case
- T 1242/06 Tomatoes II/STATE OF ISRAEL 2012-05-31T 1242/06 Tomatoes II/STATE OF ISRAEL 2012-05-31T 1242/06 Tomates II/ÉTAT D'ISRAËL 2012-05-31T 1242/06 Tomaten II/STAAT ISRAEL 2012-05-31T 1242/06 Tomatoes III/STATE OF ISRAEL 2015-12-08
- Abstracts for this decision
- -
- Application title
- Method for breeding tomatoes having reduced water content and product of the method
- Applicant name
- State of Israel - Ministry of Agriculture
- Opponent name
- Unilever N.V.
- Board
- 3.3.04
- Headnote
The following questions are referred to the Enlarged Board of Appeal for decision:
1. Does a non-microbiological process for the production of plants consisting of steps of crossing and selecting plants fall under the exclusion of Article 53(b) EPC only if these steps reflect and correspond to phenomena which could occur in nature without human intervention?
2. If question 1 is answered in the negative, does a non-microbiological process for the production of plants consisting of steps of crossing and selecting plants escape the exclusion of Article 53(b) EPC merely because it contains, as part of any of the steps of crossing and selection, an additional feature of a technical nature?
3. If question 2 is answered in the negative, what are the relevant criteria for distinguishing non-microbiological plant production processes excluded from patent protection under Article 53(b) EPC from non-excluded ones? In particular, is it relevant where the essence of the claimed invention lies and/or whether the additional feature of a technical nature contributes something to the claimed invention beyond a trivial level?
- Relevant legal provisions
- European Patent Convention Art 112(1)(a) 1973European Patent Convention Art 53(b)European Patent Convention R 23b(5) 1973European Patent Convention R 26(5)
- Keywords
- Exclusion of essentially biological processes for the production of plants - important point of law - referral of questions to the Enlarged Board of Appeal
- Catchword
- -
ORDER
For these reasons it is decided that:
The following questions are referred to the Enlarged Board of Appeal for decision:
1. Does a non-microbiological process for the production of plants consisting of steps of crossing and selecting plants fall under the exclusion of Article 53(b) EPC only if these steps reflect and correspond to phenomena which could occur in nature without human intervention?
2. If question 1 is answered in the negative, does a non-microbiological process for the production of plants consisting of steps of crossing and selecting plants escape the exclusion of Article 53(b) EPC merely because it contains, as part of any of the steps of crossing and selection, an additional feature of a technical nature?
3. If question 2 is answered in the negative, what are the relevant criteria for distinguishing non-microbiological plant production processes excluded from patent protection under Article 53(b) EPC from non-excluded ones? In particular, is it relevant where the essence of the claimed invention lies and/or whether the additional feature of a technical nature contributes something to the claimed invention beyond a trivial level?