Evento - Event - Veranstaltung

Intellectual Property and Vegetable Biotechnology

The topics discussed inclued patents, the national policy on biotechnology and vegetable improvement technologies in Brazil and abroad.

08/10/2009

Leontino Taveira, deputy director of the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Intellectual Property and Technology Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Food Supply, talked about the national policy on biotechnology development.

Michael Kock, Global IP Head of Syngenta Seeds, emphasized the importance of regulating patent grants for the sector, making it easier for companies to make investments without fearing intellectual property infringements.

Otto Licks, partner in Momsen, Leonardos & Cia law firm, expressed similar views when questioned about intellectual property protection in other countries. "Our country needs to set forth clear, solid standards to guide technical reviews, interpretation of applicable laws, the involvement of area experts, and specific governmental patent policies", he said.

Daniel Marques Golodne, researcher in the biotechnology division of the Brazilian Industrial Property Institute, said the issue is complex and the institute admits the patent grant process in Brazil is too slow. "In Brazil, ten years is the average time the institute takes to approve patent applications, 10% of which involve biotechnology products.

Embrapa, a Brazilian state-owned concern, is one of the companies that use patents to protect its intellectual property. According to its technology management coordinator, Mônica Amâncio, when seeds are sold to a producer, several technological benefits are delivered thanks to extensive research, helping increase the producer's productivity and profitability. "Last year alone, our revenues from seeds amounted to R$ 10 million, resulting in approximately R$ 35 million used by different partnerships to generate cultivated varieties, a fact that represents a significant achievement for our country and the rest of the world", she said.