Applications blossom for new plant varieties

The number of applications for new plant varieties has risen in China over the past seven years, with the country becoming the largest destination of NPV filings in the world for two consecutive years, according to IP experts.

Chinese authorities received 4,351 NPV applications in 2019, compared to 1,465 in 2013, according to experts who attended the Agricultural Intellectual Property and New Plant Variety Rights Protection Seminar 2020.

From 1999 to the end of October this year, the total number of NPV filings in China stood at 33,673 and 13,389 of them were approved.

Song Xiaoting, a professor from the Shanghai International College of Intellectual Property at Tongji University, said the increase indicates companies and individuals are becoming more aware of the importance of agricultural IP protection.

The November seminar in Shanghai was organized by the Intellectual Property Publishing House, Beijing New-Knowledge Intellectual Property Consulting Services and Beijing My Land Public Relations.

Director of the China Office of the World Intellectual Property Organization Lyu Guoliang; New Zealand Ambassador to China Clare Fearnley; Director of the New Plant Variety Protection Center at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Cui Yehan; and Director of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration Rui Wenbiao attended the event.

Apart from increasing awareness, regulators have made greater efforts to provide better support for agricultural innovators in China. For example, revised regulations on protection for new plant varieties, which covers a broader area, will be released soon.

China is stepping up agricultural IP protection, including NPV, which can boost enterprises' confidence in creating more long-term planting programs in the country.

New Zealand kiwifruit seller Zespri will start a three-year trial program for commercial procurement in Southwest China's Sichuan province in 2021. It aims to bring more economic benefits to Chinese kiwifruit growers and promote authorized plantations.

The company said the first year of the trial will involve the procurement of approximately 1,000 metric tons of golden kiwifruit from a small number of selected growers in China, which will be put through Zespri's supply chain. The purchase will be increased upon evaluation results.

Zespri is also considering founding a kiwifruit supply chain expert council to gather Chinese scientists, academics and industry practitioners. They will work with the company to share knowledge and set standards to make the Sichuan trial a success.

"The three-year pilot project would explore how Zespri could work with the local kiwifruit industry to help farmers raise their production and quality, and increase their income," said Daniel Mathieson, global CEO of Zespri Kiwifruit.

Zespri said the attempt to encourage authorized growing in China will also play a significant role in supporting innovation, according to the company.

According to Jiang Shijie, chief executive of Zespri Greater China, Zespri will invest 1-2 percent of its NZ$30 million ($21 million) annual global sales revenue in innovation.

"Without affording plant breeders and those that invest heavily the ability to recover their costs through commercialization, the process of innovation and the benefits this science provides are severely undermined," Mathieson said.

"We're encouraged by the strong stance the Chinese government has taken on IP protection, including plant variety rights, and also on working together to explore a way to move through IP and plant variety rights protection through to value creation," Mathieson said.

Zespri exports around 100,000 tons of kiwifruit annually to the Chinese mainland, of which more than 90 percent is sourced from New Zealand. The annual sales revenue in the Chinese mainland has been around 3.5 billion yuan ($536 million) and accounts for 20 percent of the company's global sales revenue.

"Over the next five years or so, Zespri is aiming to double its business in China to around 200,000 tons," Mathieson said.

Zespri will soon introduce its red kiwifruit, a new type under the brand, to China. It has applied for a NPV in China.

Shanghai's intellectual property authority released two lists of specially protected trademarks in January. Zespri is the first New Zealand company to be included on it. Infringements of the listed trademarks will result in severe punishment and interprovincial crackdowns, online and offline.

tangzhihao@chinadaily.com.cn