Plant breeders’ rights

Plant Variety Protection (PVP) is a sui generis system for intellectual property protection; the objective is to create incentives for investment in research and development of new plant varieties. In France, the national plant breeders’ rights legislation (Intellectual Property Code – Chapter III - from article L.623-1 to L623-44) and the European Union’s Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 of 27 July 1994 are legal texts providing such protection at national and EU levels; competent authorities are the French national office for plant breeders’ rights (INOV) and the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO). Any natural or legal person can be a plant breeder, including farmers or their organizations. PVP rights thus play a role for the French approach to recognize and value traditional knowledge related to plant genetic resources. On the one hand, the requirements assure that exclusive rights are not granted for something which has already been available; on the other hand, the ‘owner’ of a protected variety can prohibit unauthorized uses. Some farmer organizations make use of this legal framework; for example, several potato breeding companies are owned by seed potato growers. These organizations apply for plant breeders’ rights in France and/or at EU level to protect varieties they developed.