Protection of biodiversity vis intellectual property rights in agriculture

Convention on biological diversity of 5th June, 1992 including the regulations of the “International Treaty” on Plant “Genetic Resources” for Food and Agriculture prepared in Rome on 3rd November 2001 and the regulation of the Nagoya Protocol (of 29th October 2010) on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization to the Convention on biological diversity will significantly affect the practice relating to the creative breeding of new plant varieties. Among the objectives of the above cited international legal acts “the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from the utilisation of genetic resources” is to be noted. Since utilisation of genetic resources is an essential component of the creative breeding of new plant varieties, the new, detailed legal regulations covering this area have to cause impacts on the breeding process and obtaining the exclusive plant variety right. The new legal regulations concerning protection of biodiversity will impact, in particular, on far–reaching formalisation of the breeding process through enforcing compilation and collection of the documentation connected with the genetic resources of origin used in the breeding process. Moreover, the way of participation of particular seed industry participants in profits connected with commercialisation of the exclusive plant variety right will also be subject to remodelling. Beside hitherto beneficiaries of such profits, i.e. breeders (holders of the exclusive plant variety right) and seed companies (licensees of the exclusive plant variety right) the group of entities salary–earning for the exclusive plant variety right will be also extended with entities providing genetic resources for the creative needs of plant breeding