Can new plant varieties also apply for ＂patents＂？ Remember to give it a cool official name!
Ziyun, a New Yulan Variety
A New Magnolia Cultivar Zichen
Bingxing, a new species of Rosa
What is the right to new plant varieties?
The right to new plant varieties refers to the exclusive right to use the varieties authorized by the units or individuals who have completed breeding, which belongs to the category of intellectual property rights. A new plant variety refers to a new plant variety that has been cultivated artificially or developed from the discovered wild plants, and has novelty, specificity, consistency and stability, and has an appropriate name.
The ultimate goal of protecting the right of new plant varieties is to encourage more organizations and individuals to invest in the field of plant breeding, which is conducive to breeding and popularizing more new plant varieties, promoting the construction of seed engineering in China and promoting the continuous development of agricultural and forestry production.
How to apply for new plant varieties?
The acceptance, examination and authorization of the application for new plant varieties shall be the responsibility of the Office for the Protection of New Plant Varieties of the State Forestry and Grassland Bureau. The application follows the principle of first come, first served. After the new variety discoverer submits the information such as words and pictures, relevant experts will go to the site for observation. When the test results pass the expert review and remain stable within the specified time, the application may be passed.
Princess, Green Feather, Love, Lingnan Yuanbao, Tan 07413, Ice Star, Caiyun Perfume No.1, Ms. Rococo, lovely ice cream, excellent, red and black … …
What do you think of after reading the above phrases? In fact, they are all plant names!
In September this year, the State Forestry and Grassland Bureau announced the list of the first batch of "new plant variety rights" granted in 2019, including the above-mentioned 214 new plant variety rights.
Is the new plant variety right a new plant species? Will the value of authorized new plant varieties rise? A few days ago, a reporter from Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star walked into the Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Forestry and Grassland Bureau to reveal this "plant patent".
one
The process is similar to patent application.
By the National Forestry and Grassland Bureau of new plant varieties protection office.
"Previous names may be more derived from the special shapes or colors of plants." The relevant staff of the Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Forestry and Grassland Bureau said that it is similar to the powder cloud, purple rhyme and purple Chen identified this time. In addition, adding numbers to words is also one of the common ways, such as Rejia No.13, Rejia No.14 and Rejia No.17 identified this time.
With the opening of people’s minds, more and more personalized names appear on the list of "authorized new plant varieties", such as cute ice cream, handsome guy tie, Yunxiangrong and so on. The staff said that in principle, as long as there is no duplication with the existing name, the discoverer can name it according to his own wishes without violating the relevant requirements.
Naming sounds a bit capricious, but it is not easy to get authorization if you want to apply for approval. The staff pointed to the application date column on the list and said that the growth cycle of various plants is different, so the time from the beginning of application to the final approval is different. Among the new variety rights passed this time, the earliest application date is December 1, 2012, and the latest application date is August 29, 2018.
"The application process is similar to applying for a patent." The staff explained that the acceptance, examination and authorization of applications for new plant varieties are the responsibility of the Plant New Variety Protection Office of the State Forestry and Grassland Bureau. The application follows the principle of first come, first served. After the new variety discoverer submits the information such as words and pictures, relevant experts will go to the site for observation. When the test results pass the expert review and remain stable within the specified time, the application may be passed.
2
The right to new varieties is not equal to the discovery of new varieties.
It may be a wild mutation, or it may come from artificial culture.
"Authorization of new plant varieties does not mean the discovery of new species." The staff said that taking the new variety named "Wang Fei" as an example, its genus (species) is Rosa, and Rosa includes rose, rose and Qilixiang. "Princess" may be a rose with unique new characteristics, such as color or flower shape. But it is only a new variety of roses, not a new species.
The characteristics that it shows, which are different from other roses, may come from artificial culture, or it may be that wild roses in nature have mutated. "So the new variety right we are talking about now is more based on the discoveries of botanists in the past." The staff said that it is basically difficult to find new species of plants now, and most of them have been discovered and named by predecessors.
Discovering new plant species will help people deepen their understanding of nature. What is the significance of discovering or artificially cultivating new plant species? The staff said that in fact, everyone has been doing this for a long time, just like the merchants in the market take different names for different roses. They are for commercial purposes, and the official began to grant the right to new plant varieties when China joined the WTO.
"At first, foreign flower companies proposed that new plant varieties also need authorization protection similar to the copyright of books and audio-visual products." The staff said that foreign companies can also apply for the right to new varieties in China. In the list published this year, there are companies from the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and other countries. The reason is simple, that is, new plant varieties also have patent rights and are protected by law. However, this kind of patent right is not as easy to realize as the copyright of books and audio-visual products at present because of some characteristics of plants themselves.
three
Eight authorized new varieties in Sichuan.
The right to new varieties in the future may determine the lifeline of the industry
"The applicants this time can be roughly divided into two categories." The staff said that one is a commercial company in the flower and seedling industry, and the other is a flower and seedling research institute. Commercial companies are naturally driven by interests, and the prices of authorized new varieties will definitely increase, and more importantly, they will be protected by law. And research institutions are more focused on the future patent reserves. Just like many technology companies, they have applied for many patents at present, which can not be realized for the time being and can not be applied to actual production. But no one knows whether these patents will become important key technologies in the future. Up to now, there are 8 new varieties of forestry plants authorized by the state in Sichuan, which are still in their infancy.
"Regionality is an important limiting factor." The staff said that the same new plant variety planted in different places may have different results, which has a great impact on the commercial promotion of new varieties. Most people don’t want to take risks with great value, preferring local mature varieties. At the same time, the introduction of new varieties may also cause the invasion of alien species. Therefore, the right to new plant varieties and the copyright of books and audio-visual products are very different in actual operation.
"The right to new plant varieties contains the wisdom and sweat of the discoverer", and the plant copyright seems to be a blue ocean with reefs. In the future, some new variety rights may become the "chip" of flower and seedling industry and determine the lifeline of the industry. Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star Journalist Lin Cong Ye Yan