Plant Varieties – Challenges and Opportunities

IP Key LA organized a series of seminars in Peru and Ecuador, in collaboration with CPVO, UPOV, INDECOPI, SENADI, and the CAN. These events took place in the final days of august, with the objectives of promoting best practices and generating awareness about plant varieties protection.

Following the project’s AWP18, the seminars aimed to inform policy makers on the social and economic impact of plant variety protection; increase knowledge about Plant Varieties and its challenges; promote the scope and content of UPOV 1991 and strengthen the negotiation capacity of local stakeholders in relation to license agreements. Foremost, the main objective of these activities is the creation of an  international network of IP experts in PVP in the region,  allowing for ongoing expertise exchange and cooperation.

Participants in the Lima and Quito seminars were policy makers, together with local representatives of the PVP examination authority, local breeders and academia. Representatives from CPVO, UPOV, INDECOPI, INIAP, INTA (Argentina), INRA (France) and SENADI, as well as local experts and stakeholders presented processes on how to obtain plant variety protection, PVP benefits, technology transfer strategies in different regions and experiences in the licensing of protected varieties, among other topics.

The IP Key LA team also organized a workshop in Lima to promote best practices exchanges among the examiners of plant varieties, providing training on examination conduct. The objective of this activity was to align partner countries when it comes to IP protection standards. Representatives from CPVO, UPOV, INDECOPI, GEVES as well as technical examiners of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru shared their experience during the seminar. IP Key LA team, by organizing these activities supports national IP offices to level up their IPR protection standards in the region.