Bio patent revoked after NGO claims exploitation

 

In Switzerland, Berne Declaration successfully persuaded the European Patent Office to revoke a patent held by German firm Schwabe on cape pelargonium, a native South African herbal remedy marketed as Umckaloabo. Berne Declaration filed the complaint with the African Center for Biosafety on behalf of South African communities where the crop is grown, arguing that Schwabe had failed to share profits with the communities in question, in contravention of the UN Convention on Biodiversity.

See (in French) http://www.evb.ch/fr/p25017058.html http://www.evb.ch/fr/p25017058.html

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