A limited breeders exemption

01-12-2012

Michiel Rijsdijk

In September, the Netherlands welcomed a proposal for the introduction of a ‘limited breeders exemption’ into the patent law. The proposal concerns the modification of Article 53b of the Dutch Patent Act 1995.

In September, the Netherlands welcomed a proposal for the introduction of a ‘limited breeders exemption’ into the patent law. The proposal concerns the modification of Article 53b of the Dutch Patent Act 1995.

Background

The increasingly important role of biotechnology led in 1998 to the adoption of Directive 98/44/EC on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions. As a result of this directive, biological material which possesses specific characteristics as a result of the claimed invention, is patentable. This also includes any identical biological material derived from that biological material through propagation or multiplication. In the Netherlands this directive has been implemented in the Dutch Patent Act 1995.


limited breeders exemption, Dutch Patent Act

WIPR