Breeding Technologies

AIPH’s proposal of a speaker for UPOV’s “Seminar on the interaction between plant variety protection and the use of plant breeding technologies” has been accepted by UPOV. 

The seminar is scheduled for 22nd March 2023, starting at 9.30 CET. Online registration is open for virtual attendance. 

AIPH proposed Mr Huib Ghijsen as a speaker in this seminar. Mr Ghijsen was educated as a lawyer and agricultural engineer and has been an independent legal counsellor since 2009. Previously he was IP manager for Bayer Bioscience. AIPH is pleased to have Mr Ghijsen accepted as a speaker because UPOV received dozens of proposals from its member countries and observers. 

New Breeding (Genomic) Technologies (NBTs) enable single and multiple modifications of an Initial Variety in one act of derivation in a short time. Therefore, NBTs have the potential to undermine the protection of the initial variety unless a sufficiently broad interpretation of the UPOV Essentially Derived Variety (EDV) principle is agreed upon between UPOV members. More and more companies focus on biotech in agricultural and horticultural industries, making traditional breeding a less attractive focal point. However, ignoring the traditional ways is a dangerous development for the future. Conventional breeding should be a necessary and important focus alongside the application of biotech/new breeding methods.

AIPH considers that it would be useful to focus on these matters at the NBT seminar, emphasising that the EDV principle creates a necessary balance between the PBR system on a plant variety and a patent on the one hand and a biotechnical feature on the other.