Originally published in the Feb. 5, 2014, issue
By Dallas Duncan
Blue Suede blueberries are growing in popularity, but producers who save and sell the plants can face criminal charges.
That’s because Blue Suede is one of many cultivars protected by either patents or the Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970, deeming them intellectual property of their developers. In the case of Blue Suede, that would be the University of Georgia.
The PVPA was written to increase crop varieties and allow for researchers to recoup development costs, said Terry Hollifield, executive director of the Georgia Crop Improvement Association. Under a PVP, which covers most seed-propagated cultivars, farmers can save enough seed to plant back their acreage, but cannot sell seed. Patented plants’ seed or cuttings, such as turfgrasses, cannot be saved or sold.
“Like blueberry farmers, they can’t go out — unless they have a license — and take cuttings off their blueberry plants and plant 40 acres,” said Brent Marable, plant licensing manager for the UGA Research Foundation.
The idea of protecting plants was to get income streaming back into breeding programs, said James Sutton, assistant commissioner for the Department.
“It costs so much to come up with a new variety and it’s so short-lived. A variety may only last three or four years,” he said. “So all that money going to make this new variety, you don’t reap the benefits, especially if you’re just giving away the seed.”
Producers pay royalties when purchasing protected seed. For instance, if UGA developed the fictitious Soybean U34 and licensed it out to be sold, farmers who purchased U34 seed would pay an extra five cents per pound. The five cents goes back to UGA breeding programs, Sutton said.
Producers sign contracts as well, allowing developers to audit their fields and financials to make sure they’re following the law. However, farmers tend to police themselves, Sutton said.
Universities and companies have legal recourse against those who propagate and sell seed illegally and are caught doing so, though most settle out of court, Hollifield said.
He said the analysis tag on seed bags will note whether a variety is protected or not.
There are limitations on how long patents and PVPA protections last, however, usually between 15 and 18 years.
“If I come up with a Georgia green, great peanut variety … it had a PVP, it had a run of about 15 years. If it had a patent, nobody’s growing it after the patent runs out,” Sutton said. “You have a great new variety and it runs for about four or five years, then something takes its place.”
In essence, it’s like smart phones.
“By the time this one is about to go out,they come out with the iPhone 5,” he said. “It’s the same with seed. By the time the patent’s ready to run out, they’ve come out with a new and improved [cultivar].”
And if a variety remains popular after its patent is up, there’s a chance it will still evolve over years of use. Take Silver Queen Corn, for example.
“Silver Queen isn’t like it used to be,” said Alan Lowman, program director for the Department’s Agricultural Inputs Section. “It’s not because nobody has a vested interest in it — nobody is keeping it true to type. Part of the PVP and patent stuff is that you get what you pay for, that varieties stay true.”
It also helps ensure plants are developed to thrive in the Southeast, since royalties from one plant are being used to spur research on others — like Blue Suede blueberries
“Ten years ago, we’re taking peanut money down to Griffin to help blueberries get going. And blueberries have overtaken peaches," Sutton said. “If [the royalties] hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t have the blueberry market like you have now."
That’s because Blue Suede is one of many cultivars protected by either patents or the Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970, deeming them intellectual property of their developers. In the case of Blue Suede, that would be the University of Georgia.
The PVPA was written to increase crop varieties and allow for researchers to recoup development costs, said Terry Hollifield, executive director of the Georgia Crop Improvement Association. Under a PVP, which covers most seed-propagated cultivars, farmers can save enough seed to plant back their acreage, but cannot sell seed. Patented plants’ seed or cuttings, such as turfgrasses, cannot be saved or sold.
“Like blueberry farmers, they can’t go out — unless they have a license — and take cuttings off their blueberry plants and plant 40 acres,” said Brent Marable, plant licensing manager for the UGA Research Foundation.
The idea of protecting plants was to get income streaming back into breeding programs, said James Sutton, assistant commissioner for the Department.
“It costs so much to come up with a new variety and it’s so short-lived. A variety may only last three or four years,” he said. “So all that money going to make this new variety, you don’t reap the benefits, especially if you’re just giving away the seed.”
Producers pay royalties when purchasing protected seed. For instance, if UGA developed the fictitious Soybean U34 and licensed it out to be sold, farmers who purchased U34 seed would pay an extra five cents per pound. The five cents goes back to UGA breeding programs, Sutton said.
Producers sign contracts as well, allowing developers to audit their fields and financials to make sure they’re following the law. However, farmers tend to police themselves, Sutton said.
Universities and companies have legal recourse against those who propagate and sell seed illegally and are caught doing so, though most settle out of court, Hollifield said.
He said the analysis tag on seed bags will note whether a variety is protected or not.
There are limitations on how long patents and PVPA protections last, however, usually between 15 and 18 years.
“If I come up with a Georgia green, great peanut variety … it had a PVP, it had a run of about 15 years. If it had a patent, nobody’s growing it after the patent runs out,” Sutton said. “You have a great new variety and it runs for about four or five years, then something takes its place.”
In essence, it’s like smart phones.
“By the time this one is about to go out,they come out with the iPhone 5,” he said. “It’s the same with seed. By the time the patent’s ready to run out, they’ve come out with a new and improved [cultivar].”
And if a variety remains popular after its patent is up, there’s a chance it will still evolve over years of use. Take Silver Queen Corn, for example.
“Silver Queen isn’t like it used to be,” said Alan Lowman, program director for the Department’s Agricultural Inputs Section. “It’s not because nobody has a vested interest in it — nobody is keeping it true to type. Part of the PVP and patent stuff is that you get what you pay for, that varieties stay true.”
It also helps ensure plants are developed to thrive in the Southeast, since royalties from one plant are being used to spur research on others — like Blue Suede blueberries
“Ten years ago, we’re taking peanut money down to Griffin to help blueberries get going. And blueberries have overtaken peaches," Sutton said. “If [the royalties] hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t have the blueberry market like you have now."
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