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The patenting of living organisms has become increasingly important since the 1980s. For plants, patents are in competition with the Plant Variety Protection Certificate (COV), even though the protection provided by these two IP titles is fundamentally different. The admissibility of genes’ patentability regardless of their nature (human, animal, or plant) has led to the development of biotechnology patents. The broad interpretation of the notion of invention given by patent offices sometimes leads to protecting what should not be protected. The purpose of patents as knowledge conveyors is thus becoming marginal and is becoming a means of knowledge appropriation. Such a development runs the risk of creating a major obstacle to innovation.