INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS ON PLANTS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO VEGETATIVELY PROPAGATED ORNAMENTALS

Both in the industry and in plant breeding, the intellectual property of the inventor is (legally) protected.
In the industry new inventions are protected by “industrial patent”, in the world of plants by “plant patent”, “breeder’s right” or sometimes just by “trade mark”. Plant patent was established in United States as early as 1930, breeder’s right was first established in The Netherlands in 1941. Important initiatives to legal protection of plant varieties were taken by ASSINSEL, a globally active association of plant breeders founded in 1938. This association took the lead as to the creation of the UPOV-Convention 1961, that formulated the legal protection of plant varieties.
UPOV was revised in 1972, 1978 and 1991. UPOV-Conventions have been implemented in the national laws of member states.
The revision of 1991, was mainly owing to increasing problems as to ownership of mutants in ornamentals and genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) in general.
These problems were met by the introduction of the system of essentially derived varieties (EDV’s). Maintenance of breeder’s exemption in UPOV-1991, has ascertained the free use of protected varieties in breeding.
However, the use of GMO’s, that commonly contain patented genes, is not free for breeders because research exemption in industrial patents is only valid during the research phase.
Conflicting interests between breeder’s right and industrial patent for the protection of new varieties are discussed.

XX International Eucarpia Symposium, Section Ornamentals, Strategies for New Ornamentals – Part I

L.A.M. Dubois

breeder’s exemption, breeding, EDV, GMO, industrial patent, mutant, ornamentals, plant breeder’s right, plant patent, research exemption, trade mark

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2001.552.23