US: Plant breeders to receive 360-degree training on IP for plant products

CIOPORA Academy is partnering with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney to bring the next workshop in its series to Washington, D.C. The workshop will provide participants with a 360-degree perspective on the available IP instruments for plant innovators and, for the first time since the launch of the program, will raise the bar from the Competence to Advanced level, which means contents on IP strategy with increased complexity.

CIOPORA Secretary General Dr Edgar Krieger said, “We have created the CIOPORA Academy to help plant breeders protect the results of their work and guarantee for sufficient return on their R&D investments. The Washington, D.C. workshop will revolve around the strategic IP portfolio management outlining multiple legal tools, within and without the IP protection systems, that can help innovative plant breeders secure their proprietary rights.”

The 1.5-day workshop hosted at the Washington D.C. offices of CIOPORA member Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney will encompass lectures on both domestic and foreign IP protection regimes, touching upon the U.S. plant patents and utility patents, Plant Breeders Rights, the IP systems beyond the PVR such as trademarks (strategies in multiple jurisdictions) and trade secrets, as well as topics going beyond the sole IP including Competition law (in the US) and (national and international) taxation of royalties. The speaker lineup includes leading experts on IP for plant innovations, including lawyers from Buchanan, Baker McKenzie (US), DíazWiechers (Chile), The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In addition to the lectures, participants will visit the USPTO facilities in Alexandria, Va, attend a meeting with the Supervisory Patent Examiners and take a tour of the Public Search Facility and the National Inventors Hall of Fame on September 6.

“We’re thrilled to be a host and part of the CIOPORA Academy. IP protection for plant varieties is becoming ever more valuable in the global economy and we are excited to help educate people on this important topic,” said Dr. Travis W. Bliss, counsel and chair of Buchanan’s IP Biotechnology & Life Sciences group.

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