Intellectual Property and Development of Transgenic Horticultural Crops - Transgenic Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Opportunities - page 223

the.treaty.has.been.revised.in.1972,.1978,.and.more.recently.in.1991..UPOV.provides.
the. international. standardized. framework. in. which. each. national. government. can.
establish.their.own.legal.system.
As.a.member.of.UPOV,.the.U.S..Plant.Variety.Protection.Act.offers.protection.of.
sexually.propagated.or.tuber-propagated.plant.species..In.the.United.States,.PBRs.
are.granted.through.Plant.Variety.Protection.(PVP).Certiicates.issued.through.the.
U.S..Department.of.Agriculture..UPOV.requires.that.a.plant.variety.meet.a.set.of.
criteria.known.as.DUS.requirements;.distinct,.uniform,.and.stable..UPOV.provides.
a.PVP-like.system,.which.can.offer.robust.protection.worldwide.
The. horticultural. industry. can. use. a. combination. of. plant. patents,. PVP,. and.
PRBs. to. protect. and. market. its. varieties. in. most. parts. of. the. world.. For. example,.
the.University.of.California.relies.on.UPOV.and.U.S..plant.patents.to.manage.a.suc-
cessful.Strawberry.Licensing.Program.in.domestic.and.international.markets..The.
Strawberry.Licensing.Program.has.expanded.its.international.markets.in.countries.
with.strong.IP.protection.and.the.UC.strawberry.cultivars.now.represent.up.to.60%.
of.the.worldwide.production. 4
Trade secrets .are.one. of. the.oldest. forms.of. IP.protection. and. are. used. to.pro-
tect. conidential. business. information,. processes,. know-how,. data,. and. materials. 5 .
However,. a. trade. secret. does. not. protect. against. competitors. reverse. engineering.
a. product.. In. the. horticultural. and. seed. industries,. trade. secrets. have. been. widely.
used.to.protect.parent.inbred.lines.for.hybrid.seed.production.but.are.clearly.not.use-
ful.for.the.protection.of.a.variety.that.can.be.directly.propagated.asexually.or.with.
open-pollinated.seeds..Where.appropriate,.however,.trade.secrets.can.be.maintained.
indeinitely.so.long.as.conidentiality.is.not.breached.
Another. form. of. IP. protection. of. limited. utility. in. horticulture. is. a. copyright ..
A copyright. protects. the. expressed. idea,. plant. variety. description. or. diagrams,. or.
other.material.that.may.be.displayed.in.catalogs.or.seed.packages..This.form.of.IP.
protection. is. weaker. than. others. because. anyone. is. free. to. use. the. actual. plant. or.
depicted.idea..Also,.anyone.is.free.to.use.the.copyright.information.for.the.devel-
opment.of.a.product..Copyright.use.in.plant.sciences.could.apply.to.plant.genome.
information.in.electronic.databases.and.bioinformatics.software.and.hardware..For.
example,.the.use.of.information.in.electronic.databases.can.be.limited.or.controlled.
by.granting.access.to.databases.through.a.copyright.license.or.an.information.access.
agreement..The.International.Center.for.Tropical.Agriculture.(CIAT),.for.example,.
limits.the.ability.to.claim.intellectual.property.protection.over.any.data.or.informa-
tion.in.its.databases.through.an.information.access.agreement.(http://isa.ciat.cgiar.
org/urg/ita.do;jsessionid=9FEEC2C59FAB82D4EABF5052083238A3).
Trademarks . are. another. form. of. IP. protection. applicable. to. brand. names. of.
horticultural. products;. however,. as. with. copyright,. it. does. not. protect. the. tech-
nology. itself.. In. the. United. States,. trademarks. are. registered. at. the. USPTO..
A searchable.database.of.trademark.registrations.is.available.on.the.USPTO.web-
site.at.the.Trademark.Electronic.Search.System.(http://tess2.uspto.gov)..For.horti-
cultural.crops,.trademarks.are.often.used.to.protect.any.word,.phrase,.symbol,.or.
logo.that.represents.brand.varieties.or.products.such.as.Dole ® .(a.registered.trade-
mark. of. Dole. Fruit. Company),. Sunkist™,. and. Monsanto. Company's. Roundup.
Ready ® .products.