Q. How have strengthened intellectual property
rights affected research and technology development?
A. Expanded intellectual property rights
(IPR's) for biological inventions, the development of
hybrid seeds, and biotechnology applications have stimulated
private sector plant breeding efforts during the past
25 years. Previously, the lack of legal protection for
biological inventions, such as new plant or animal breeds,
made it difficult for the private sector to appropriate
the gains from R&D investments since a copy of the
invention also provided the means to reproduce it. Furthermore,
biological inventions were not afforded the same legal
protection under standard U.S. patent laws established
in the Patent Act of 1790.
The Plant Patent Act of 1930 provided the first plant breeders'
rights, in this case for asexually reproduced plant varieties (specifically
fruits, nuts, and ornamentals). Because protections for field crops
were limited, private sector plant breeders concentrated on hybrid
seed technologies since farmers must repurchase hybrid seeds each
season to maintain yields. However, corn, sorghum, and sunflowers
are the only field crops for which hybrid seed is commercially successful
in the United States.
In 1970, the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) finally provided
plant breeders' rights for new plant varieties produced from seed,
particularly field crops. From 1971 to 1994, new field crop varieties
accounted for 58 percent of total PVPC's (Plant Variety Protection
Certificates) awarded. The PVPA has since extended coverage to vegetables
and tubers, restricted farmers' rights' to resell protected seed,
and disallowed new varieties that simply involve superficial changes
in the appearance of protected plant varieties.
Biological inventions were not patentable until 1980, when the
U.S. Supreme Court authorized the use of standard U.S. utility patents
for microorganisms. In 1985 and 1987, utility patents were authorized
for plants and animals.
IPR protection for new plant varieties has enhanced incentives
for plant breeding ventures in the private sector, where plant breeding
efforts have intensified and are now more than twice those in the
public sector. The private sector owns the majority of total PVPC's
and utility patents.
See the discussion of private ownership of intellectual property
in Agricultural Research and Development:
Public and Private Investments Under Alternative Markets and Institutions.
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