Plant varieties certificates and patent plants are intellectual property assets that remain the poor relation of technology transfer transactions. Being at the core of solutions to address global food insecurity, the research investigates ways to reinvigorate them.
Last Update: 05.07.24
It goes without saying that food security is a global concern. Developing new plant varieties that are resilient in the face of radically different climatic conditions is crucial. Carefully designed intellectual property (IP) regimes may promote breeders’ rights over their seeds and climate-smart agricultural technologies. But do they secure sufficient IP transactions to benefit farmer’s needs?
The International Union for the Protection of new Varieties of Plants (UPOV) has promoted the development of sui-generis regimes to specifically protect new plant varieties. In addition, different jurisdictions have adopted other legal regimes like patent plants and utility patent plants.
Given such a proliferation of plant IP rights, is it legitimate to believe that this would diversify and stimulate plant IP transactions? In response to these legal concerns, the paper makes the argument that current plant IP regimes, as much sophisticated as they are, may not secure sufficient technology transfers to address food insecurity challenges. Several factors are hampering transfers of these IP assets to the needy farmers. This is ultimately hindering securing global food supplies.
The research is an appraisal of various plant IP rights. It analyses the scope and extent of these rights by comparing and analysing the regimes of the following jurisdictions:
(1) EU created a system granting IP rights to new plant varieties called the Community Plant Variety Right, which is a patent-like protection that is valid throughout the EU.
(2) India has its own Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Act that is not UPOV-compliant. Whereas, Tunisia adopted a PVP system compliant with UPOV Convention.
(3) USA with the most sophisticated regime adopting all sorts of plant IP rights going from plant patents to plant utility patents, including the implementation of a Plant Variety Protection Act. Because plant IP rights may include both patents or PVP, or a combination of both, the research will attempt to scrutinise the relevant rights in those countries.
Further, since technology transfer is closely linked to the market, therefore to innovation, the research investigates the potential and limits of transfers of plant varieties certificates as well as plant patents. Hence, assessing the economic value of these IP assets allows the research to highlight limits to technology transfers and to suggest solutions. The empirical research will utilise available data from different regions not necessarily focusing only on EU, US and India.
I.1 Innovation
