ABSTRACT
Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are legal and institutional devices to protect creations of the mind such as inventions, patents, and plant breeders’ rights, whereas patents provide inventors with legal rights to prevent others from using, selling, or importing their inventions for a fixed period. The history of intellectual property rights for plants is mainly connected with the development of breeding institutions during the past two centuries. In 1970, the American “Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA)” was passed. Sexually propagated varieties could be protected. In 1961, in Europe a similar system was put into law by “Union pour la Protection des Obtentions Vegetales (UPOV).” Member countries were Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
With the enormous concentration of breeding potential within some multinational companies as well as the genetically engineered individual characteristics in crop varieties the interest in corresponding patents is increasing in order to protect the investment and the economic benefit. The BAYH–DOLE Act and the Technology Transfer Act had impact on public plant breeding and research in the United States. The intellectual property protection for plants is now provided through plant patents, plant variety protection, and utility patents. By 1988, more than 40 patents on crop plants had been issued. To date, there are more than 2000 U.S. patents with claims to plants, seeds, or plant parts. European governments defied the EU Commission in 2005 by voting for the right to keep bans on patented GM crops and food.
Since the patent laws restrict the free exchange of knowledge and plant material, there is a great deal of effort around the world to prevent the patenting culture in plants. For example, the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) aims to ensure access to crop genetic resources by embracing an open-source mechanism that fosters exchange and innovation among farmers, plant breeders, and seed companies.
