Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
To. develop.a. strategy. for.IP. access,. it. is.important. to. consider. both.the. IP. and.
TP.rights..Most.researchers.are.still.relatively.unfamiliar.with.how.to.ind,.under-
stand,. and. utilize. IP. information,. including. published. patents. and. patent. applica-
tions..Therefore,.it.is.important.for.scientists.to.seek.legal.expertise.to.understand.the.
FTO.and.IPRs.of.the.components.and.processes.used.to.develop.agricultural.biotech.
products..In.addition,.management.of.other.TP.agreements.(like.MTAs).is.crucial..
Keeping.track.of.contractual.obligations.speciied.in.sponsor.research.agreements,.
employment. contracts,. and. MTAs. are. important. to. address. the. development. of. a.
project. because. they. may. be. critically. important. in. the. downstream. deployment.
of.a.biotechnology.product..For.example,.agreements.may.deine.who.holds.patent.
rights,.whether.a.technology.can.be.commercialized.or.transferred.to.third.parties,.
or.if.the.license.is.for.“research-use.only.”.Therefore,.understanding.these.complex.
IP.and.TP.issues.are.critical.in.order.to.develop.strategies.for.IP.access.
Scientists.worldwide.are.realizing.the.increasing.need.to.address.IP.and.TP.issues.
in.order.to.deploy.their.biotechnology.discoveries..In.the.private.sector,.the.corporate.
culture.prioritizes.preemptive.mitigation.of.IP.and.TP.issues,.and,.as.a.consequence,.
biotechnology. companies. have. robust. legal. resources.. In. contrast,. public. sector.
scientists.usually.do.not.have.access.to.the.legal.information.necessary.to.address.
these. issues.. In. 2003,. several. public. sector. and. not-for-proit. agricultural. research.
institutions. recognized.the. need.to.develop.an.organization.to.address. the.relative.
inaccessibility.of.IP.information.and.to.provide.a.framework.to.ensure.that.IP.does.
not.block.applications.of.agricultural.biotechnology.and,.in.particular,.to.facilitate.
projects.that.can.have.broad.humanitarian.beneits.
16
.Numerous.universities,.includ-
ing.the.University.of.California,.the.Donald.Danforth.Plant.Science.Center,.North.
Carolina.State.University,.Ohio.State.University,.Boyce.Thompson.Institute.for.Plant.
Research,.Michigan.State.University,.Cornell.University,.University.of.Wisconsin-
Madison,. University. of. Florida,. the. United. States. Department. of. Agriculture,.
Rutgers. University,. Texas. A&M. University,. and. Purdue. University. developed. the.
Public. Sector. Intellectual.Property. Resource.for. Agriculture. (PIPRA;. www.pipra.
org)..These.institutions.made.a.public.commitment.to.participate.and.promote.strat-
egies.to.collectively.manage.public-sector.intellectual.property.in.support.of.both.
U.S.. and. developing. country. agriculture.. This. initial. founding. group. of. PIPRA.
members. has. grown. to. over. 53. institutional. members. in. 15. countries,. illustrating.
the.widespread.concern.and.interest.in.working.collectively.to.remove.and.avoid.IP.
barriers.that.might.slow.development.of.new.crops.
PIPRA.operates.on.several.levels.to.effectively.support.the.broad.application.of.
agricultural.technologies.developed.in.public-non/proit.research.institutions..Its.pri-
mary.strategy.has.been.to.adopt.a.highly.collaborative.program.built.on.consensus.
views.of.its.members—all.of.whom.fundamentally.believe.that.intellectual.property.
protection.is.an.important.tool.to.support.innovation..PIPRA.is.working.within.the.
context.of.its.members.to.support.both.commercial.and.humanitarian.applications.
of. technologies. and. to. develop. strategies. and. mechanisms. to. stimulate. even. more.
innovation.globally.
A.number.of.strategies.have.been.implemented.to.enhance.FTO.using.public-
sector.IP.for.agricultural.biotechnology.projects..For.example,.informed.decisions.
regarding.dissemination.of.new.knowledge.via.open.publication.or.protecting.it.with.
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