Breeders' Role in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for the Hybrids/Parental Lines

 

• Intellectual property protection is crucial & a key enabler for investment in plant breeding and the development of new hybrids/varieties of plants.
•  As the crop varieties developed by the company are an asset of the company, it is obvious to protect the assets through a proper and pragmatic IPR.
• The violators of rights can be penalised, including civil judicial proceedings for monetary damages, an injunction to prevent the continued unauthorized use of the product and criminal proceedings by the government.
•  The breeder should be the person to complete the PVP certificate application
•  It is important to maintain good breeding records, which are invaluable in case of an infringement challenge.
•  As data compilation, for PVP filing purposes, need to be well thought out process, not only because of need for robust data but also implications.