Free Access to Patented Innovation

Bayer offers small vegetable breeding companies in the European Union access free of cost to our European patents on traits in vegetables which are in the Euroseeds PINTO database and licensable by Bayer. With this initiative we want to address concerns especially small breeding companies may have regarding access to patented innovation.

Companies operating in the EU with less than 10 million Euro annual turnover and less than 50 employees (according to the EU definition of small enterprises) could benefit from this proposal for products developed and commercialized in the EU. Those companies might have less resources to access innovation on a royalty-bearing basis.

To benefit from Bayer’s initiative, small breeding companies would only need to qualify as a small company according to the EU definition and sign Bayer’s non-assert agreement provided for transparency on our Vegetables by Bayer e-licensing website.

Bayer openly welcomes other owners of intellectual property rights to provide similar initiatives. We also entertain discussions with a range of stakeholders and associations to share the proposal across the industry. Should this approach be proven as a workable solution in Europe, its applicability in other geographies could be considered.

Intellectual property rights play an important role in innovation including developments in plant breeding to make vegetables and crops more resilient, less demanding of resources, and higher yielding. These innovations help to meet sustainability goals, mitigate the impact of climate change, and support food security. You can find more information on our position in intellectual property rights on our Principles and Positions page.