Plant Breeder Rights / Plant Variety Protection

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Our firm has a unique specialization in the field of protecting Plant Breeder Rights (PBR), also known as PVP (Plants Variety Protection). PBR award the breeder an envelope of protection against using the protected breed, including for self-growth and for issuing licenses to growers, and a variety of other uses of the plant itself and its genetic properties. Supported by the understanding that breeding of a new variety requires extensive resources (time, effort, money, emotional involvement, etc.), and with the desire to encourage breeders to create innovative varieties which will benefit agriculture, industry, pharmaceutics, the market and the public in general.

PBR is a derivative of intellectual property, however unlike the familiar protection of patenting, protecting PBR is extended by law to include the breed’s genetic data, which includes its offspring, defined by law as “Essentially Derived Variety””. In accordance with advanced legislation in this field worldwide, and particularly in Europe, and with the recognition that the material in question is biological, and that changes can be introduced to the genetic constitution which might change its form and behavioural features (for example – earlier maturation, extended shelf life of crops, etc).

Maintaining the intellectual property rights of PBR constitutes a strategic commercial advantage. We accompany our clients at all stages of the process – beginning with the preliminary application for registration of rights with the PBR’s Registrar, through the process of rights renewal, and of course utilizing the PBR economic potential, by drawing up license agreements for commercial or research use and growing agreements. We are also affiliated with law firms in The Neverlands and the USA who practice this field, so that through us breeders can protect their rights in Europe and the USA as well.

We also represent our clients in legal proceedings designed to protect their PBR, including the involvement of scientific experts in the field of plant genetic testing.

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The firm is ranked as a leading law firm in this field

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Rafi Soferman Partner

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