Canada has a long history of investing in agricultural research, with public funds playing a dominant role for most crops up until recently. With the advent of biotechnology in the 1980s, the research industry underwent significant transformations. Crops more amenable to the application of DNA modification techniques (e.g., canola) gained considerable attention by the private sector and experienced an influx of private R&D investment and proliferation of intellectual property rights (IPRs). IPRs have changed the nature of knowledge from being non-excludable to being excludable, thus affecting the nature of research benefits and research incentives. The advantages and disadvantages of a stronger IPR system in Canadian agriculture are currently hotly debated in policy circles. <p> This thesis develops a theoretical model that describes the incentives for innovation and the distribution of benefits from research when such innovations are protected by Plant Breeders' Rights (PBRs) versus patents. Specifically, the research industry is modeled as a monopolistic seed company undertaking research, developing a new variety and selling it to heterogeneous farmers. The difference between PBRs and patents is embodied in the farmers' decision that incorporates the possibility of seed saving envisioned by PBRs, but not by patents. The simulation results show that under certain conditions PBRs can be as effective as patents in encouraging R&D activity, and that the share of farmers in total benefits is generally smaller under patents than under PBRs. The benefits under patenting regime, however, are not necessarily smaller in absolute terms. <P>This dissertation also develops a game theoretic model to study the impact of IPRs on the sharing of research inputs. The results reveal that when two private firms compete in a differentiated product market, they will have an incentive to protect their technologies and maintain exclusive rights. Therefore, sharing within private industry may be a challenge. As IPRs proliferate, however, a lack of incentive to share/cross-license may not be confined to private industry. IPRs may also impact the propensity of public researchers to protect or share their technologies. <P>To address the issue of sharing and assess the efficiency of the current IP protection system in the Canadian plant breeding industry, interviews with wheat and canola breeders were conducted. The responses suggest that, in general, patents have become more prevalent in both industries over the last decade, which has, in turn, reduced germplasm and information flows and increased secrecy. There is also evidence that patents undermine R&D efforts in some potentially promising areas of research and make freedom to operate in the breeding industry a concern.

Canada has a long history of investing in agricultural research, with public funds playing a dominant role for most crops up until recently. With the advent of biotechnology in the 1980s, the research industry underwent significant transformations. Crops more amenable to the application of DNA modification techniques (e.g., canola) gained considerable attention by the private sector and experienced an influx of private R&D investment and proliferation of intellectual property rights (IPRs). IPRs have changed the nature of knowledge from being non-excludable to being excludable, thus affecting the nature of research benefits and research incentives. The advantages and disadvantages of a stronger IPR system in Canadian agriculture are currently hotly debated in policy circles. <p> This thesis develops a theoretical model that describes the incentives for innovation and the distribution of benefits from research when such innovations are protected by Plant Breeders' Rights (PBRs) versus patents. Specifically, the research industry is modeled as a monopolistic seed company undertaking research, developing a new variety and selling it to heterogeneous farmers. The difference between PBRs and patents is embodied in the farmers' decision that incorporates the possibility of seed saving envisioned by PBRs, but not by patents. The simulation results show that under certain conditions PBRs can be as effective as patents in encouraging R&D activity, and that the share of farmers in total benefits is generally smaller under patents than under PBRs. The benefits under patenting regime, however, are not necessarily smaller in absolute terms. <P>This dissertation also develops a game theoretic model to study the impact of IPRs on the sharing of research inputs. The results reveal that when two private firms compete in a differentiated product market, they will have an incentive to protect their technologies and maintain exclusive rights. Therefore, sharing within private industry may be a challenge. As IPRs proliferate, however, a lack of incentive to share/cross-license may not be confined to private industry. IPRs may also impact the propensity of public researchers to protect or share their technologies. <P>To address the issue of sharing and assess the efficiency of the current IP protection system in the Canadian plant breeding industry, interviews with wheat and canola breeders were conducted. The responses suggest that, in general, patents have become more prevalent in both industries over the last decade, which has, in turn, reduced germplasm and information flows and increased secrecy. There is also evidence that patents undermine R&D efforts in some potentially promising areas of research and make freedom to operate in the breeding industry a concern.

No description available.

Plant Breeders' Rights (PBR) are a form of intellectual property rights enabling breeders of new plant varieties to have the exclusive right to produce and sell propagating material of their new plant varieties. The existence of effective property rights has been pointed to as a stimulus of increased R&D and productivity. Canada has had legislation to provide PBR protection for about two decades, and is considering further strengthening of the regulatory framework. However, there are few studies that have examined the effectiveness of the legislation on crop productivity. This thesis investigates the hypothesis that the adoption of wheat varieties qualifying for Plant Breeders' Rights has increased overall wheat yields and rate of yield increase. The yield response function models are applied to industry data for western Canada and Alberta, respectively. The empirical results show that the PBR Act had a relatively small impact on wheat yields. Among wheat classes, it had a positive impact for Durum wheat in Alberta.

Le droit de la propriété intellectuelle présente, depuis quelques années, un intérêt particulier à l'évolution de la recherche sur les plantes. Ceci s'est traduit, au plan international, par l'adoption de plusieurs instruments visant à assurer une meilleure protection des investissements consentis dans ce domaine. Il s'agit notamment de la Convention de l'UPOV, qui s'inscrit dans une logique de protection par la voie sui generis avec la possibilité de délivrance de certificat d'obtention végétale aux sélectionneurs; de l'Accord ADPIC, qui, en plus de recommander un système sui generis efficace, ouvre l'option de protection par brevet ou en définitive par le cumul des deux systèmes; de la Convention sur la Diversité Biologique (CDB) et du Traité de la FAO portant sur les ressources phytogénétiques pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture, qui, favorables aux deux précédentes formes de protection, demandent que soient prises en compte des considérations relatives aux droits souverains des pays sur leurs ressources végétales, au partage des bénéfices, etc. Au plan régional, on distingue, entre autres, l'initiative de l'Afrique, visant à assurer la protection des plantes suivant une logique partagée entre l'alignement sur les normes internationales existantes (Accord de Bangui) ou l'institution d'une autre législation originale qui reflète les réalités et préoccupations du continent (Loi modèle). Il apparaît donc qu'il existe plusieurs instruments pour cerner la même réalité. Ceci est forcément la source de quelques difficultés qui sont d'ordre conceptuel, socioéconomique, environnemental et juridique. Pour les pallier, il est important que certaines conditions soient satisfaites afin d'harmoniser les points de vue entre les différents acteurs concernés par la question et d'assurer une appropriation conséquente des instruments adoptés. / The intellectual property rights have showed increasing attention to the evolution of plant research in recent years. This has been reflected, at the international level through the adoption of several measures to ensure a fairly comprehensive protection of rights arising. These measures include the Convention of the Union for the protection of Plant breeder' Rights, which is part of a logic of protection through sui generis with the possibility of issue plant breeders' rights to breeders; the Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights Related to Trade, which, in addition to recommending an effective sui generis system gives the option of protection by patent or by the combination of the two systems of law to protect plant varieties; the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which supported both previous forms of protection, ask to be taken into account considerations on sovereign rights of nations over their plant resources, benefit sharing, and so on. At the regional level, there are the initiative of the Africa which aimed to ensure the protection of plants following a certain vision shared between alignment on existing international standards or the institution of another original legislation which reflects the realities and concerns of the continent. It then appears that there are several tools to handle the same reality, which can be a source of difficulty. These are difficulties are conceptual, socio-economic, environmental and legal. T0 overcome these difficulties, it is important that certain conditions are met to harmonise points of view between different actors involved in the issue and ensure a consistent ownership of the instruments adopted.

Le droit de la propriété intellectuelle présente, depuis quelques années, un intérêt particulier à l'évolution de la recherche sur les plantes. Ceci s'est traduit, au plan international, par l'adoption de plusieurs instruments visant à assurer une meilleure protection des investissements consentis dans ce domaine. Il s'agit notamment de la Convention de l'UPOV, qui s'inscrit dans une logique de protection par la voie sui generis avec la possibilité de délivrance de certificat d'obtention végétale aux sélectionneurs; de l'Accord ADPIC, qui, en plus de recommander un système sui generis efficace, ouvre l'option de protection par brevet ou en définitive par le cumul des deux systèmes; de la Convention sur la Diversité Biologique (CDB) et du Traité de la FAO portant sur les ressources phytogénétiques pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture, qui, favorables aux deux précédentes formes de protection, demandent que soient prises en compte des considérations relatives aux droits souverains des pays sur leurs ressources végétales, au partage des bénéfices, etc. Au plan régional, on distingue, entre autres, l'initiative de l'Afrique, visant à assurer la protection des plantes suivant une logique partagée entre l'alignement sur les normes internationales existantes (Accord de Bangui) ou l'institution d'une autre législation originale qui reflète les réalités et préoccupations du continent (Loi modèle). Il apparaît donc qu'il existe plusieurs instruments pour cerner la même réalité. Ceci est forcément la source de quelques difficultés qui sont d'ordre conceptuel, socioéconomique, environnemental et juridique. Pour les pallier, il est important que certaines conditions soient satisfaites afin d'harmoniser les points de vue entre les différents acteurs concernés par la question et d'assurer une appropriation conséquente des instruments adoptés. / The intellectual property rights have showed increasing attention to the evolution of plant research in recent years. This has been reflected, at the international level through the adoption of several measures to ensure a fairly comprehensive protection of rights arising. These measures include the Convention of the Union for the protection of Plant breeder' Rights, which is part of a logic of protection through sui generis with the possibility of issue plant breeders' rights to breeders; the Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights Related to Trade, which, in addition to recommending an effective sui generis system gives the option of protection by patent or by the combination of the two systems of law to protect plant varieties; the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which supported both previous forms of protection, ask to be taken into account considerations on sovereign rights of nations over their plant resources, benefit sharing, and so on. At the regional level, there are the initiative of the Africa which aimed to ensure the protection of plants following a certain vision shared between alignment on existing international standards or the institution of another original legislation which reflects the realities and concerns of the continent. It then appears that there are several tools to handle the same reality, which can be a source of difficulty. These are difficulties are conceptual, socio-economic, environmental and legal. T0 overcome these difficulties, it is important that certain conditions are met to harmonise points of view between different actors involved in the issue and ensure a consistent ownership of the instruments adopted.

[ES] El objeto del presente trabajo es el contrato de licencia de obtención vegetal y su estructura se articula conforme a las instituciones básicas del contrato: se inicia el estudio con el concepto, clases y notas características de la licencia; en segundo lugar, se abordan los principales elementos del régimen jurídico del contrato; en tercer lugar, se analizan los principales elementos (personales, formales y reales), la formación y la estructura del contrato; en cuarto lugar, se estudia el contenido y cumplimiento del contrato; en quinto lugar, se analiza la terminación del contrato; y, previo a las conclusiones, se delimitarán las figuras afines al contrato de licencia para explotar un determinado material vegetal. El estudio se centra en el contrato de licencia configurado sobre un título de obtención vegetal comunitario y nacional. Por ello, las referencias normativas se realizarán a la normativa europea y nacional de obtenciones vegetales y, cuando proceda, de las disposiciones del Convenio de la Unión de París sobre Obtenciones Vegetales y de Derecho comparado alemán, francés e italiano. Para analizar el derecho de obtención vegetal como objeto de un contrato de licencia es necesario abordar instituciones tan importantes como el concepto de variedad vegetal, variedad vegetal protegible, alcance de la protección y la protección provisional, con especial atención a la sentencia del Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea de 19 de diciembre de 2019 y sus importantes implicaciones sobre la solicitud de protección como objeto del contrato de licencia. Quedan fuera del presente trabajo el estudio del contrato de licencia configurado sobre un derecho de propiedad industrial, distinto del de obtención vegetal, que proteja el material vegetal o cualquier conocimiento o técnica susceptible de protegerse por un secreto empresarial y dé lugar a una licencia de know-how. No obstante, se analizará la posibilidad de configurar un contrato de licencia con objeto plural en el que concurran, además de un derecho de obtención vegetal, una patente, una marca o un secreto empresarial. El análisis del contenido del contrato se realizará desde el punto de vista contractual y antitrust. En cuanto al análisis antitrust, al tratarse el contrato de licencia de obtención vegetal de un acuerdo de transferencia de tecnología será de aplicación el Reglamento (UE) N.º 316/2014 de la Comisión de 21 de marzo de 2014 relativo a la aplicación del artículo 101, apartado 3, del Tratado de Funcionamiento de la Unión Europea a determinadas categorías de acuerdos de transferencia de tecnología. Sin embargo, se hace referencia también a acuerdos de comercialización del derecho, sobre los que recae el análisis antitrust conforme a las disposiciones del Reglamento (UE) 2022/720 de la Comisión de 10 de mayo de 2022 relativo a la aplicación del artículo 101, apartado 3, del Tratado de Funcionamiento de la Unión Europea a determinadas categorías de acuerdos verticales y prácticas concertadas. / [CA] L'objecte d¿aquest treball és el contracte de llicència d'obtenció vegetal i la seua estructura s'articula conforme a les institucions bàsiques del contracte: s'inicia l'estudi amb el concepte, classes i notes característiques de la llicència; en segon lloc, s'aborden els principals elements del règim jurídic del contracte; en tercer lloc, s'analitzen els principals elements (personals, formals i reals), la formació i l'estructura del contracte; en quart lloc, s'estudia el contingut i compliment del contracte; en cinqué lloc, s'analitza la finalització del contracte; i, abans de les conclusions, s'analitzaran les figures afins al contracte de llicència per a explotar un determinat material vegetal. L'estudi es centra en el contracte de llicència configurat sobre un títol d'obtenció vegetal comunitari i nacional. Per això, les referències normatives es realitzaran a la normativa europea i nacional d'obtencions vegetals i les disposicions del Conveni de la Unió de París sobre Obtencions Vegetals i de Dret comparat alemany, francés e italià. Per analitzar el dret d'obtenció vegetal com a objecte d'un contracte de llicència és necessari abordar institucions tan importants com el concepte de varietat vegetal, varietat vegetal protegible, l¿abast de la protecció i la protecció provisional, amb especial atenció a la sentència del Tribunal de Justícia de la Unió Europea de 19 de desembre de 2019 i les seues implicacions sobre la sol·licitud de protecció com a objecte del contracte de llicència. Queden fora d¿aquest treball l'estudi del contracte de llicència configurat sobre un dret de propietat industrial, diferent del d'obtenció vegetal, que protegisca el material vegetal o qualsevol coneixement o tècnica susceptible de protegir-se per un secret empresarial i done lloc a una llicència de know-how. No obstant això, s'analitzarà la possibilitat de configurar un contracte de llicència amb objecte plural en el qual concórreguen, a més d'un dret d'obtenció vegetal, una patent, una marca o un secret empresarial. L'anàlisi del contingut del contracte es realitzarà des del punt de vista contractual i antitrust. Quant a l'anàlisi antitrust, en tractar-se el contracte de llicència d'obtenció vegetal d'un acord de transferència de tecnologia serà aplicable el Reglament (UE) Núm. 316/2014 de la Comissió de 21 de març de 2014 relatiu a l'aplicació de l'article 101, apartat 3, del Tractat de Funcionament de la Unió Europea a determinades categories d'acords de transferència de tecnologia. No obstant això, es fa referència també a acords de comercialització del dret, sobre els que recau l'anàlisi antitrust conforme a les disposicions del Reglament (UE) 2022/720 de la Comissió de 10 de maig de 2022 relatiu a l'aplicació de l'article 101, apartat 3, del Tractat de Funcionament de la Unió Europea a determinades categories d'acords verticals i pràctiques concertades. / [EN] The aim of this research is the license agreement of plant variety rights, whose structure is articulated according to the basic elements of the contract: the study begins with the concept, types and characteristics of the license; secondly, the main elements of the legal regime of the contract are analysed, ; thirdly, its main elements, negotiation and structure are examined; fourthly, the content of the contract is studied; fifthly, the termination of the contract is analysed; and, prior to the conclusions, the related contracts to the license to exploit a certain plant material will be delimited. The study focuses on the license agreement of a community and national plant variety right. Therefore, European and national plant variety legislation references will be made, and, where appropriate, also references to the provisions of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants and comparative German, French and Italian law will be made. To analyse the plant variety right as the subject matter of a license agreement, it is necessary to explain such important elements as the concept of plant variety, scope of rights and provisional protection, with special attention to the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 19 December 2019, and its consequences on the application for protection as the subject matter of a license agreement. It will not be included in the scope of this research, the analysis of the license agreement stablished on an intellectual property right, different from a plant variety right, which protects any knowledge or technique which can be protected by a trade secret and gives rise to a know-how license. Nonetheless, the possibility of negotiating a license agreement with different intellectual property rights in which, in addition to a plant variety right, a patent, a trademark or a trade secret could be involved, will be also analysed. The analysis of the content of the contract will be carried out from a contractual and antitrust point of view. Regarding the antitrust analysis, since the plant variety license is a technology transfer agreement, Commission Regulation (EU) No 316/2014 of 21 March 2014 on the application of Article 101(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to categories of technology transfer agreements will be applicable to the plant variety license. Furthermore, it is necessary to bear in mind that the antitrust analysis of commercialisation agreements should be made according to the Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/720 of 10 May 2022 on the application of Article 101(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to categories of vertical agreements and concerted practices. / Miranda Ribera, E. (2023). El contrato de licencia de obtención vegetal [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/196879