Seed industry & IPR perspective from a regional PVP Office Carlos Godinho Vice-President CPVO APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15

– Overview EU seed sector – E.U. System of PVR – The CPVO – Examination Offices – Statistics 2 APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15

Overview EU seed sector 3 APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15

E.U. SEED SECTOR (ESA) Value EU seed market € 7 bn (20% global market); The third seed market in the world (FR, DE, IT); Number of seed companies 7.200; Employment ca ; Annual R&D Spending Up to 20% (of turnover); R&D Stations 750 R&D Employees ca ; APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 4

Breakdown of the EU seed market per crop (Study EP 2013) APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 5

EVOLUTION NUMBER OF SPECIES COMMON CATALOGUE (DG SANTE) APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 6

E.U. SEED SECTOR (Study EP 2013) SMEs are particularly numerous in the EU, representing a high share of the EU seed sector; Concentration process of the seed industry has gone less far in Europe than in the rest of the world; Seed markets are highly segmented by crop and by geographical area, in particular vegetables; APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 7

CHALLENGES E.U. SEED INDUSTRY How to feed the world in 2050? Climate change; Limitation agrochemicals; New diseases and pests; Strong prices of agricultural products with increasing demand in seed quality; New breeding techniques; APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 8

CHALLENGES E.U. SEED INDUSTRY Increase in investments – R&D; Financing – Royalties (Private and Public sector); Efficient, effective and affordable protection. APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 9

E. U. System of PVR APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 10

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE E.U. SYSTEM At the time of creation of the E.U. PVR system in national PVP systems co-existed in the EU; Breeders seeking a «European» market had to apply for protection in several countries; This was time and money consuming; 11 APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE E.U. SYSTEM The creation of a PVR system covering the territory of the EU Member States:  saved time and money of breeders;  Facilitated the creation of a single European market for plant varieties; APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 12

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE E.U. SYSTEM One Application One Procedure One Technical Examination One Decision Protection in the 28 MS of the EU, more than 500 million consumers APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 13

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE E.U. SYSTEM The EU PVR system was established by the Council Regulation 2100/94, based on the UPOV Convention (‘91 act); The system is managed by the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO), a self-financed E.U. Agency; The intellectual property rights granted under this system are valid throughout the territory of the 28 Member States of the E.U.; APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 14

The E.U. PVR system co-exists with the National PVRs systems of 25 EU member States. The applicant’s choice : National or E.U. PVR; The E.U. PVR protection cannot be combined with national PVR; Varieties of all botanical genera and species may be protected ( species); CHARACTERISTICS OF THE E.U. SYSTEM APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 15

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE E.U. SYSTEM Entitlement to file an application for E.U. PVR: Any natural or legal person, or any body ranking as a legal person under the law applicable to that body; Duration of the E.U. right: 25 years, 30 for vines, trees and potato varieties; Provisional protection: covering the time from publication of the application until the grant of the Community right; APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 16

To be protected a variety must respect the following conditions: Distinct Uniform Stable New Suitable denomination CHARACTERISTICS OF THE E.U. SYSTEM APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 17

Some examples of acts in respect of variety constituents, or harvested material of the protected variety which need the authorization of the holder : (a) production or reproduction (multiplication); (b) conditioning for the purpose of propagation; (c) offering for sale; (d) selling or other marketing; (e) exporting from the EU; (f) importing to the EU; (g) stocking for any of the purposes mentioned in (a) to (f). CHARACTERISTICS OF THE E.U. SYSTEM APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 18

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE E.U. SYSTEM Exceptions: The breeder’s exemption: The Community plant variety rights shall not extend to acts done for the purpose of breeding, or discovering and developing other varieties; The agricultural exemption: Farm saved seed - only possible for varieties belonging to a limited list of 21 agricultural crops in well-defined circumstances; APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 19

ENFORCEMENT OF RIGHTS The E.U. PVR system grants a private right, it is the responsibility of the holder to enforce his rights (in M.S. courts); CPVO organizes Seminaires about the scope of protection and enforcement for judges, breeders, growers, farmers, national PVR authorities. 22 APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15

Regulation (EC) n°2100/94 of the Council of the E.U. : “Member States shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the same provisions are made applicable to penalize infringements of Community plant variety rights as apply in the matter of infringements of corresponding national rights.” ENFORCEMENT OF RIGHTS APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 21

Regulation (EC) n°1383/2003 on Customs actions The Customs authorities can block products suspected of infringing Community plant variety rights which are presented in a Customs office; ENFORCEMENT OF RIGHTS APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 22

The CPVO APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 23

COMMUNITY PLANT VARIETY OFFICE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART President Vice President Public Relations Human Resources Service Technical UnitAdministration Unit Legal Unit Quality Audit Service Board of Appeal Administrative Council 24 APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15

CPVO - The Administrative Council Budgetary authority of the CPVO; Entrust the Examination Offices; Adopts the Technical Protocols; May establish rules on working methods of the Office; Forward to the Commission modifications to the EU Legislation on PBR; Advise on matters for which the Office is responsible. APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 25

CPVO - The Board of Appeal The Board of Appeal is responsible for deciding on appeals lodged against certain decisions taken by the CPVO. APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 26

CPVO - Funding §Under the terms of the basic Regulation the Community Plant Variety Office is self-financing; §It must administer the system without financial support from the general EU budget; §The CPVO receives revenue from fees; APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 27

CPVO - Funding The fees cover several steps of the procedure: Application fee :650 € Examination fees :1400/3200 € per year/cycle of DUS test depending on the species Annual fees : 250 € APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 28

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OF THE SYSTEM Reduction in the level of the application and annual fees since the launching of the system Efficiency gains (e.g. processing time between reception of final report and granting right) 31 APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OF THE SYSTEM Facilitating communication with applicants and Examination Offices (on line application system; myCPVO; VarietyFinder); R&D projects to improve the quality and reduce costs of DUS testing; Service on advice of variety denominations for EU Member States; WG of Technical and legal experts. 32 APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15

Examination Offices APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 31

EXAMINATION OFFICES When the EU PVR system was created it has been decided to use the testing facilities already existing in the MS, for the assessment of the DUS criteria of candidate varieties; Where no examination office within the EU is available for testing an “exotic” species, the Office may collaborate with offices outside the EU. APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 32

 The D.U.S. examination is carried out by entrusted Examination Offices. The entrustment is made by the Administrative Council;  The Examination Offices must fulfil several quality requirements (audits);  Throughout the technical examination there is collaboration between the technical expert of the CPVO and the Examination Office;  A network of Examination Offices; EXAMINATION OFFICES 33 APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15

CPVO network of Examination offices in the EU 34

Statistics APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 35

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APPLICATIONS FROM EU MS APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15

APPLICATIONS OUTSIDE EU APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 40

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THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION APSA Workshop – Bangkok, 18/05/15 43