2012 CIOPORA Chronicle

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Opinion The Selecta Group is a world leading breeder, producer and marketer of vegetatively propagated ornamental plants. Using groundbreaking breeding methods, the Selecta team develops hundreds of new breeding lines each year. Many of them have been successfully introduced in the market place while others stand out for further development and are now in validation trials. Meanwhile, the Selecta breeders ask themselves whether PBR protect their innovations sufficiently. Selecta questions whether PBR provide enough protection The Selecta breeding team consisting of more than 60 people is active in developing varieties of more than 40 species in the field of bedding plants, Poinsettia, perennials and cut flowers. The results are pretty impressive: Each year, the company is able to introduce more than seventy new varieties with improved or even new characteristics, a great number of them being protected by Plant Breeder’s Rights. Tidy sum of money Developing a new variety, from the first seedling to the final commercial product, takes at least five years and costs a tidy sum of money. The breeder’s privilege embedded in the PBR law enables anyone to use a protected variety for his own breeding work and to crossbreed with this protected genetic material. On one hand each breeder can use a wide range of varieties to develop new ones to the benefit of the whole branch. But on the other hand the law doesn’t differentiate if the variety used for crossbreeding simply is a further development of an already existing one or if it’s a real breakthrough innovation, something really new that hasn’t been on the market before. Heart, soul and creativity In this case the initial breeder who put his heart, soul and creativity in the development of this innovation will lose within a few years his USP (unique selling proposition) and plenty of varieties coming from the same genetic source will flood the market. The winner won’t be the most innovative breeder but the one who is the strongest in production and sales. The main objective of the PBR system is of course to protect the IP rights of breeders, either being individuals, small entities or large breeding companies, instead of promoting the rights of producers. Patents Taking into account all the money that was spent the question arises: Can the breeder receive enough compensation for his investments? To ensure this, some larger breeding companies already decided to apply for a patent if the level of invention is good enough at all. The patent law stipulates that the patented invention may be used only for R&D purposes and no product based on the patented invention may be marketed without the patent holder’s approval. The possibility to apply for a patent isn’t the answer at all considering the costs that are much higher than those to be paid for a Plant Breeder´s Right and moreover it often takes a long time until a patent is finally granted. And let’s Dr. Ulrich Sander, CTO and CMO of Selecta Klemm and Board Member of CIOPORA Germany. not forget the knowhow necessary to elaborate a patent application. But are patents really the solution for all of us? What is the answer for the average breeder, the huge number of small and medium-sized breeding companies that also need a broad scope of protection of their IP rights? Groundbreaking innovations If a breeder succeeds in developing a real innovation, something unprecedented, he of course wants to be ensured of the highest possible scope of protection. There are plenty of examples for groundbreaking innovations in our industry: “Diamond Frost” (Chamaesyce), “Hot®” (Lobelia), “Garden Girls®” (Calluna), “Queen®” (double flowering Kalanchoe), “FlowerPower® Double” (double flowering 16 www.CIOPORA.org | CIOPORA Chronicle April 2012
Trixi ® Petticoat Osteospermum) or “MiniFamous® Double” (double flowering Calibrachoa). It often takes many years until the first varieties can be brought into the market. Breeder’s privilege It goes without saying that innovative breeders want to avoid their competitors entering the market with similar varieties within short. Should everyone try to get a patent on his invention? Then the competitors would be completely banned. As an alternative we could also imagine to suspend the existing breeder’s privilege preventing the use of breakthrough innovations for a limited period of maybe 5, 8 or 10 years thus giving the initial breeder enough technological and economic advantage to compensate his breeding efforts. His competitors, on the other hand, won’t be left out in the rain forever. For us this seems to be a fair solution for all parties even though the political implementation of a possible amendment of the breeder’s privilege in the PBR law may not be achieved overnight. ||| Osteospermum FlowerPower ® Double Purple Calibrachoa MiniFamous ® Double Blue Calibrachoa MiniFamous ® Double Pink Vein Osteospermum FlowerPower ® Double White Bronce Selecta’s double flowering Osteospermum wins Medal of Excellence The double flowering Osteospermum series FlowerPower ® Double, last year’s world novelty, was introduced to the American audience at the 2011 California Spring Trials under the name of 3D Osteospermum this spring and has been able to convince producers, media and reviewers right from the beginning. After winning the Taspo Awards in Germany in 2010 in the category ‘Breeding of the Year’ the double flowering Osteopsermum varieties could also claim a coveted trophy in the USA - the Medal of Excellence, an award given by the Greenhouse Grower magazine. Selecta’s double flowering Osteospermum varieties could clearly asserted against the competition and win in two categories. A panel of notable opinion leaders of the industry honoured the double flowering varieties with the “Industry’s Choice” award ranking Selecta among previous award winners like ‘Black Velvet’ (Ball FloraPlant) and ‘Snow Princess’ (Proven Winners). Also Selecta has been an awardee already ever since convincing the judges of the Industry’s Choice awards with a breeding in 2006. With the first double flowering Calibrachoa variety MiniFamous ® Double Pink Selecta accomplished the introduction of the most innovative product once before. The FlowerPower ® Double varieties could furthermore convince in the category “Editor’s Choice”. Editor Delilah Onofrey says, “it’s clear Selecta’s 3D double osteospermums were the most significant introduction at this year’s California Spring Trials.” Last year Selecta started offering four double flowering varieties in white, pink and purple. The varieties had been integrated in the successful FlowerPower ® line. This season two more varieties were added to the line: FlowerPower ® Double Berry White in white with a high-contrast flower filling in a berry-like colour and purple tips and FlowerPower ® Double White Bronce in white with a romantic bronze-coloured centre. The multi-awarded varieties of the FlowerPower ® Double line are easy to cultivate and convince with earliness and a very good shelf life of the flower. A special characteristic of the double flowering Osteospermum varieties is the fact that the flowers stay open even under low light conditions. CIOPORA Chronicle April 2012 | www.CIOPORA.org 17
Page 1 and 2: April 2012 • www.ciopora.org The
Page 4 and 5: Table of Contents 08 CIOPORA serves
Page 6 and 7: CIOPORA Members Agro Selection Frui
Page 8 and 9: A welcome from the President CIOPOR
Page 10 and 11: www.fides.nl FI 412 Ciopora adverte
Page 12 and 13: U.S. Plant Patents The United State
Page 14 and 15: U.S. Plant Patents Plants can be le
Page 18 and 19: Jondle & Associates is a full servi
Page 20 and 21: Law case On 20 October 2011 the Cou
Page 22 and 23: Law cases In October 1996, De Ruite
Page 24 and 25: Plant breeders play a fundamental r
Page 26 and 27: Interview FCI had the honour to spe
Page 28 and 29: Interview the bath water. Another a
Page 30 and 31: Patents Parallel to the progress of
Page 32 and 33: Opinion PlantHaven is an independen
Page 34 and 35: Company profiles Founded in 1897, t
Page 36 and 37: International PBR systems As a coun
Page 38 and 39: LAW FIRM WITH FLOWER POWER Smithuij
Page 40 and 41: Marker technology DNA markers were
Page 42 and 43: Marker technology Time periods for
Page 44 and 45: Country profile Ornamental horticul
Page 46 and 47: International PBR systems For more
Page 48 and 49: Enforcement GESLIVE is a nonprofit
Page 50 and 51: 50617 Wuesthoff-Logo 10.11.2005 9:1

2012 CIOPORA Chronicle

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