Alexandria, Virginia, USA
February 17, 2012

Source: American Seed Trade Association newsletter

The American Seed Trade Association and the U.S. seed industry continue conversations with Chinese government officials and plant breeding community about the importance of strong intellectual property protection laws Feb. 14-15, 2012, in Beijing, China.

The International Symposium on Seed Intellectual Property Rights and the Fifth National Forum on Agricultural Intellectual Property Rights brought together more than 120 participants. Attendees included intellectual property (IP) experts from across the globe, government officials, leaders from public research institutions and private seed companies.

The two-day conference focused on three themes specific to the seed industry: IP protection and technology transfer in Europe and the United States, the Chinese IP system and seed companies' intellectual property.

Tim Johnson who represented ASTA at the symposium said the conference went extremely well and was very productive.

"This was a well organized conference that facilitated open dialogue and asked serious questions," explained Johnson who presented about the benefits of IP protection systems for plant variety protection (PVP) in the United States. "The Chinese government is serious about transferring technology development from public institutions to private industry and is investing its resources to better understand different transfer models.

"They believe this is a good thing for Chinese farmers, public institutions and private industry, as well as for the whole of the agriculture industry leading to increased productivity and food security."

Johnson said it was encouraging to see Chinese government officials recognize the importance of transitioning to UPOV 91. He also acknowledged that it would be years before anything could be implemented due to the time it takes to change the laws to meet the standards set forth in UPOV 91.

"This transition means that Chinese seed companies will be responsible for producing and supplying quality seed to farmers and the government will be responsible for ensuring IP protection for companies to encourage innovation and investment," Johnson explained.

A few other speakers and topics at the symposium were:

• IP Protection System of PVP in Europe by Judith de Roos of Plantum NL
• Essentially Derived Varieties in Europe and America: Legislation System, Practices and Case Studies by Stephen Smith, Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business
• Status of China Seed Intellectual Property (status, issues and challenges in creation, protection and application) by Bo Lv, China Ministry of Agriculture
• China Biotech Patent System by Qingkui Zhang, Chinese State Intellectual Property Office, Pharmaceutical and Biological Examination Department
• Value Assessment of PVP by Yanping Zhou, Shandong Agricultural University

The symposium was organized by the China Intellectual Property Alliance for Seed Industry and sponsored by CropLife China Biotech Committee, Agricultural Intellectual Property Center and Beijing Seed Industry Alliance. Both the Agriculture Seed Board and the Science & Technology and Education departments of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture supported the symposium.
 

Website: http://www.betterseed.org/

Published: February 17, 2012