Pelargonium
Local communities in South Africa have been using the Cape Pelargonium to treat bronchitis and other diseases since time immemorial.
Schwabe Pharmaceuticals, a German company that makes a tidy profit from a Pelargonium-based product named UMCKALOABO, is seeking various patents on the medicinal uses of the Cape Pelargonium.
Together with our partners in South Africa (the Alice Community, African Center for Biosafety) the Berne Declaration filed a complaint with the European Patent Agency against two of their patents on may 2008. We believe that these patents constitute an illegitimate and unlawful appropriation of traditional knowledge and genetic resources and are counter to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Schwabe Pharmaceuticals, a German company that makes a tidy profit from a Pelargonium-based product named UMCKALOABO, is seeking various patents on the medicinal uses of the Cape Pelargonium.
Together with our partners in South Africa (the Alice Community, African Center for Biosafety) the Berne Declaration filed a complaint with the European Patent Agency against two of their patents on may 2008. We believe that these patents constitute an illegitimate and unlawful appropriation of traditional knowledge and genetic resources and are counter to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
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Factsheet Pelargonium (english) (42 KB) |
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Factsheet "The Pelargonium Patent Challenges" (English) (44 KB) |
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Filed Opposition against Patent EP 1 429 (48 KB) |
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Briefing paper - Knowledge not for sale (0.45 MB) |
