Paper short abstract:

The paper wants to show the existence of the possibility of getting a patent on an outsourced plant related knowledge, which exists for long time in another country. To illustrate such possibility, a European patent granted on the process of Teff flour, which is an Ethiopian resource will be discussed.

Paper long abstract:

States are dependent on each other for plant genetic resources. A company’s knowledge as to the actual or potential use of the resource can be a decisive factor to start negotiating on access. In a more general statement, a company will be more interested to access a plant genetic resource if the company knew the uses and method on how to use the plant genetic resources. Teff is an Ethiopian plant genetic resource with many identified uses such as, being gluten free; it can be used for the preparation of food for people who are gluten intolerance. Besides, there is an ‘Ethiopian way’ or a ‘traditional way’ of processing Teff flour, and the flour can be used among others for baking flat bread like pancake.

In 2004, the Ethiopian government and the Netherlands Company, Health and Performance Food International B.V. signed the Agreement on access to and benefit sharing from Teff plant genetic resources. In 2007, the European Patent Office granted a patent on the processing of Teff flour to the Netherlands Company (EP 1646287B1). The company claims to invent a new method to process Teff flour. This paper examines as to whether the company’s claim is an invention which is different from the Ethiopian way of processing Teff flour or whether it is a ‘misappropriation’ of Teff plant related knowledge. This discussion indicates that the patentability requirements supported by practical factors may allow a patentee to misappropriate plant related knowledge, especially, when the knowledge is outsourced from another country such as Ethiopia.