The Munich, Germany based agency of the European Union (EU)—established in 1977—that is responsible for common patent protection matters for all of the (EU) member countries, plus the non-EU countries of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The European Patent Office originally did not allow a “plant or animal breed” to be patented, whereas its American counterpart—the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), does allow patenting of microbes, plants, and animals (e.g., those which have been genetically engineered by man). In 1997, the European Parliament removed that exclusion, thus making the two patent systems compatible.