2013 CIOPORA Chronicle
CIOPORA annual magazine on Intellectual Property protection for plant innovations 2013. Produced in cooperation with FloraCulture International. Read in the 2013 issue: - PBR topsy-turvy. How UPOV and its members turn the system upside down - Breeding industry ‘manifesto’ reflects strong visions and daily practice - Marketability of innovation – the power of ideas in horticulture - Contemporary marketing solutions for horticultural businesses - Hydrangeas in a PVR squeeze - Clearly or just about distinguishable? and more...
CIOPORA annual magazine on Intellectual Property protection for plant innovations 2013. Produced in cooperation with FloraCulture International.
Read in the 2013 issue:
- PBR topsy-turvy. How UPOV and its members turn the system upside down
- Breeding industry ‘manifesto’ reflects strong visions and daily practice
- Marketability of innovation – the power of ideas in horticulture
- Contemporary marketing solutions for horticultural businesses
- Hydrangeas in a PVR squeeze
- Clearly or just about distinguishable?
and more...
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IP protection<br />
Since 1995,<br />
when Colombia<br />
became a UPOV<br />
1978 Act member,<br />
the Colombian<br />
Agricultural<br />
Institute (ICA) has<br />
received a total of<br />
1786 applications<br />
from all over the<br />
world in all the<br />
fields of plant<br />
breeding. Out of<br />
these applications,<br />
a total of 1140<br />
certificates of<br />
protection<br />
were issued by<br />
December 2012.<br />
by Andres Rincon<br />
Colombia’s PBR system<br />
faces unsolved problems<br />
A<br />
closer look at the numbers<br />
shows that asexually reproduced<br />
varieties, especially<br />
ornamentals, have benefited greatly<br />
from the system. This is quite plausible<br />
as 44% of the total applications<br />
originate from the Netherlands<br />
and 47% of the grants belong<br />
to rose varieties, followed by 14%<br />
Chrysanthemum, 11% carnation,<br />
11% Alstroemeria and only 20%<br />
for other varieties.<br />
Unsolved challenge<br />
Although the system has proven<br />
to be effective in granting Plant<br />
Breeder Rights (PBR), an unsolved<br />
challenge remains with the international<br />
community, which is to demonstrate<br />
that the system provides<br />
adequate laws and regulations that<br />
are capable of meeting the demands<br />
of breeders as stated in the UPOV<br />
1991 Act.<br />
With these needs in mind, the<br />
Colombian government has been<br />
trying to adhere to the UPOV<br />
1991 Convention for several years,<br />
but is still facing strong political<br />
resistance from sectors opposing the<br />
broadening of the IP standards in<br />
socially sensible areas such as pharmaceuticals<br />
and agriculture. The<br />
latest attempt to adhere to the ‘91<br />
standard was made on April 2012,<br />
when the Congress passed Bill 1518<br />
adhering to the ‘91 Act of UPOV<br />
in the framework of implementing<br />
legal commitments acquired<br />
under the Free Trade Agreement<br />
with the US government. This law,<br />
however, has recently been declared<br />
unconstitutional by the Colombian<br />
Constitutional Court, which<br />
holds that the approval process<br />
violated the fundamental rights of<br />
indigenous and tribal communities.<br />
These latter should have been<br />
consulted by the government before<br />
the passing of the bill as the UPOV<br />
1991 Act standard may affect<br />
those communities’ agricultural<br />
practices and ancestral knowledge.<br />
The government intends to proceed<br />
with the bill, but needs to develop a<br />
strategy to comply with the consultation<br />
ordered by the Court.<br />
Measures of protection<br />
Despite not being able to adhere to<br />
the UPOV 1991 Act yet, Colombia<br />
has managed to implement<br />
the ‘91 Act minimum standards<br />
by providing breeders with (i)<br />
provisional protection between<br />
filing and granting; (ii) effective<br />
protection over Essentially Derived<br />
Varieties (EDVs); (iii) experimental<br />
use exception; (iv) farmer’s privilege<br />
restricted to less than five hectares<br />
in addition to filing a report with<br />
ICA, and a marketing prohibition<br />
of the harvest material; and (v) a<br />
25-year term of protection for vines,<br />
forest and fruit trees, and a 20-year<br />
term for other species.<br />
Adhering to the UPOV 1991<br />
standard, however, would allow the<br />
country to open the door for the<br />
implementation of even stronger<br />
legal measures regarding harvest<br />
materials, especially products<br />
that are manufactured with those<br />
harvest materials. But most importantly,<br />
adhering to the UPOV 1991<br />
Act would provide the international<br />
community with the certainty of<br />
political commitment to maintain<br />
the highest minimum standards as<br />
agreed by all the UPOV 1991 Act<br />
member states.<br />
ICA<br />
Finally, to facilitate the enforcement<br />
of plant varieties in the country, the<br />
Colombian Congress passed Bill<br />
1564 in 2012, providing the ICA<br />
with jurisdiction over infringement<br />
of PBR. This change in essence<br />
creates a PBR specialized court,<br />
providing the Instituto Colombiano<br />
Agropecuario ICA (the organisation<br />
that administers Colombia’s<br />
Plant Variety Rights Regime) with<br />
judicial control of the PBR system,<br />
something which in principle<br />
will solve the historical problems<br />
of the system associated with the<br />
lack of technical knowledge of the<br />
judicial authorities when enforcing<br />
PBR. The challenge is now in<br />
the hands of the ICA, bearing in<br />
mind that it is a small office with<br />
very limited human and financial<br />
resources. These problems would<br />
require immediate attention from<br />
the Colombian government in order<br />
to guarantee the success of this new<br />
function.<br />
Parallel to the implementation of<br />
the new judicial functions of the<br />
ICA, the government is attempting<br />
to implement a socialisation programme<br />
for the existing indigenous<br />
communities, which delivers the<br />
(relatively small) changes that come<br />
from complying with the UPOV<br />
1991 Act. This means the outlook<br />
for the balance of the protection<br />
for plant innovation in Colombia is<br />
optimistic. However, it also implies<br />
an invitation to the international<br />
community and associations like CI-<br />
OPORA to keep a vigilant eye on the<br />
country, with active lobbying highlighting<br />
the positive amendments<br />
brought to the UPOV Convention in<br />
the revised Act of 1991. |||<br />
About the author<br />
Andres Rincon is a Colombian<br />
Patent Attorney with broad<br />
experience in Intellectual Property.<br />
He holds a Masters Degree from<br />
the Max Planck Institute -Munich<br />
Intellectual Property Law Center-,<br />
and has a successful practice in the<br />
fields of plant breeding protection,<br />
and enforcement of intellectual<br />
property assets. He is now a Senior<br />
Associate at OlarteMoure, where<br />
he directs the Plant Breeding<br />
Protection Department and the<br />
Litigation Department of the firm.<br />
<strong>CIOPORA</strong> <strong>Chronicle</strong> April <strong>2013</strong> | www.FloraCultureInternational.com 33