The European Patent Office this week published its decision revoking a previously granted patent on indoor farming. PlantLab, which owned patent EP2348841, and Certhon together with partner Signify have been fighting a legal battle over the patent for years.
Last month, when the decision was made, both parties responded.
John van der Sande, Chief Innovation Officer at Certhon, commented, "The fact that the European patent on indoor farming is not valid is, as we indicated earlier, a victory for the entire industry."
On behalf of PlantLab, co-founder Leon van Duijn responded. "On November 10, the EPO found that one claim of the six of the patent was not sufficiently novel, so unfortunately the patent has now expired as a whole. However, our method was found to be novel." Leon informs us that the process of the first PlantLab is continuing the process for the first PlantLab Indoor Farming patent in Europe.
The full ruling can be read on the European Patent Office website: https://www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/recent/t172398eu1.html.