Multinational food company Nestlé is seeking a patent for an extract from the fennel flower, prompting claims it is trying to own a plant that has been used for thousands of years.

Nigella Stavia, or fennel flower seeds, are said to hold many remedial benefits, and are used in traditional medicine in many eastern cultures. Nestlé says it has every right to seek a patent of a compound that can be extracted from the fennel flower and the patent will not prevent the use of the fennel flower plant for any other purposes.

However the international activist group, Sum of Us, claims Nestlé is attempting to create a monopoly and wants the ability to sue anyone using fennel flowers without its permission.

Dr Matthew Rimmer is an associate professor of law at the Australian National University and associate director of the Australian Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture. He says the fennel flower case demonstrates a broader global debate going on.

'It's part of a broader debate about intellectual property, food security and the role of corporations,' he says.

'Nestlé and other companies would say intellectual property is really important to encourage innovation in food.

'But other organisations like Sum of Us would argue that intellectual property could hinder or restrict access to essential genetic resources and plants and food.'

Dr Rimmer says the Nestlé case will be interesting to watch.

'For a patent to be valid it has to be novel, inventive and useful.

'The controversy in this particular case is partly over whether or not this is a new invention, or is simply a discovery of nature.

'Nestlé are arguing in this case that they are trying to protect the findings of their research, particularly in relation to food allergies.

'But there is a huge petition against this application claiming that it's not novel or inventive, but trying to patent something that's already well known.'

Dr Matthew Rimmer, Associate Professor of law at the Australian National University, and associate director of the Australian Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture

Producer: Aimee Volkofsky