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LONDON, APRIL 1 . Ending an 11-year-old dispute, the European Patent Office (EPO) has upheld the revocation of a patent on the fungicidal properties of the neem tree granted to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and WR Grace, a multinational. The EPO rejected the multinational's appeal against its May 2000 order upholding India's plea that the medicinal plant was a part of traditional knowledge. In 1994, the EPO granted the patent to USDA and WR Grace for neem-based bio-pesticides for use on food crops. The patent was revoked in 2000 following pressure from the European Union Parliament's Green Party, India-based Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (RFSTE) and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). The multinational had filed an appeal against the revocation of the patent. Fighting against "biopiracy" were activists led by Vandana Shiva of the RFSTE and the Green Party leader and former Belgian Health Minister, Magda Alevoet. "We are happy that the European Patent Office has reaffirmed what patents are about," Ms. Shiva said in Delhi. The RFTSE and others had challenged the award of the patent on the grounds that the fungicidal properties of neem had been known in India for over 2,000 years and was not a novel product as claimed by the multinational. "It is a victory for traditional knowledge and practices," Ms. Alevoet told Belgium's Le Soir daily. "This is the first time anybody has been able to have a patent rejected on these grounds," she said. — PTI
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