Legal Innovation in Plant Breeding
Current laws governing plant breeding incentives often overlap, creating inefficiencies. This project explores how to realign these legal frameworks to better support innovation in new breeding techniques (NBTs).
Project description
What is the research project about?
Both patent law and plant variety protection (PVP) regulate and incentivise innovation in plant breeding. In principle, these two legal systems have independent fields of application. However, technological progress has opened up considerable scope for patenting innovations in plant breeding. As a result, there is now significant overlap between these legal regimes. The project examines these overlaps and their impact on the incentives for plant breeding innovation, particularly in the context of new breeding techniques (NBTs). It aims to realign the patent and/or PVP systems with the specific functions of each respective area of law, ensuring a more balanced and effective framework for innovation.
Why is the research project important?
Current legal discussions on the use of patents in plant breeding, in particular for NBTs, focus on the symptoms rather than the causes of these problems. This leads to fragmented and incomplete solutions. This project takes a more comprehensive approach and tries to develop a balanced incentive system that encourages innovation, while avoiding unnecessary regulatory barriers.
Original title
Recalibrating the Incentive Systems for NBT