Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR) give exclusive commercial rights to breeders of new plant varieties, allowing a breeder the right to exclude others from a range of activities, including producing and reproducing a protected variety.
Protecting new plant varieties or plant-derived innovations can be complex. Breeder’s Rights can be used to protect a broader range of subject matter such as the plant itself or various plant parts, plant products, plant material used in industrial processes, and plant breeding methods. Breeder's rights protection extends not only to the seed or seedling but to the entire genetic information of a variety, which includes its progeny. Breeder’s rights are intended to compensate a breeder for the costly and time-consuming effort involved in breeding a new plant variety and to encourage breeders to create varieties with high yields which are resistant to pests and disease for the benefit of agriculture.
To qualify for protection, a plant variety should be new, distinct, with uniform characteristics that are stable after repeated propagation. However, what constitutes a ‘new’ variety varies from country to country.
At The Luzzatto Group, we understand the strategic and commercial advantages of securing strong IP rights in relation to plant variety innovation and research. We support plant breeders from the preliminary application for a breeder’s rights and also during the renewal process. We can deal with all the formalities necessary to apply for plant variety rights and successfully handle refusals issued by the plant variety rights’ examiners. We can also advise on alternative forms of protection, including patents for products and processes when available. Our focus is on providing a strategic approach for our clients to maximize the potential protection of new plant varieties or plant-derived innovations. We enable our clients to obtain all available protection, including that of breeders’ rights registration, in full co-operation with the Group’s law firm.
