"plant breeders from Taiwan now enjoy the same patent protection in the European Union as their counterparts from the 27 EU member states do...
the European Union formally informed the COA [Council of Agriculture / Taiwan] in March of its assent to process applications by Taiwanese individuals and corporations for protection of intellectual property rights for new plant varieties. The EU approval came after a... year of... negotiations... plant breeders can file their patent applications with the EU's Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO). Earlier this month... the EU further informed Taiwan that if disputes arise because of patent claims by two or more parties over the same plant variety, Taiwanese breeders can enjoy a priority right in the EU for that variety so long as they have already obtained patent protection in a non-EU country. ... plant breeders now enjoy same full patent protection in the whole EU territory for their new cultivars as their counterparts from EU member countries do... the EU has also offered same protection for plant breeders from member states of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV)... a U.N.-affiliated intergovernmental organization with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. As Taiwan is not a U.N. member, it has been barred from joining the UPOV, and its plant breeders have consequently been denied patent protection for their new cultivars. ... most countries... do not take the initiative in protecting the rights and interests of foreign new plant breeders until after the parties concerned have taken their cases to the courts for debate. From now on... Taiwanese breeders will be able to collect royalties for their patented new cultivars from their EU partners and will also be able to file patent violation lawsuits if their competitors in China or other countries illegally use their breeding know-how to cultivate and export the plant species [or hybrids ?] to EU countries. Through separate bilateral negotiations... the United States, Australia and Japan have also expressly agreed to process patent applications by Taiwanese breeders of new plant varieties. ... the COA has assisted local orchid breeders and growers in forming a corporate body to facilitate their overseas patent applications for their new orchid varieties. The Taiwan Orchid Growers Foundation, headquartered in the Netherlands, has filed an application with the... CPVO... for patent protection for 10 locally developed phalaenopsis species and hybrids" article URL : http://au.biz.yahoo.com/070530/17/19717.html ************* Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
