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NGTs IP SESSION

As New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) accelerate crop innovation, understanding the intellectual property tools that support the development and commercialization of new varieties is becoming increasingly important. A workshop on IP Instruments for NGTS innovations in crops: Patents and Plant Variety Protection (PVP) will provide participants with a clear overview of the legal frameworks that protect innovations and encourage investment in plant breeding.

The workshop will address key topics such as the patentability of NGT-derived traits and technologies, the relationship between patents and breeders’ rights, licensing opportunities, freedom-to-operate issues, and the impact of IP protection on both public and private breeding programs. It will also offer an opportunity to discuss recent developments and future challenges in the evolving IP landscape, including safeguard instruments in development as part of the NGT Regulation, such as an EU Code of Conduct on IP.

Bringing together breeders, researchers, industry representatives, legal experts, and policymakers, this workshop will foster informed dialogue on how intellectual property supports all forms of innovation in crops while ensuring access to technologies needed for the development of sustainable and competitive agriculture.

Format: short presentations followed by round table and open discussion. If of interest a selection of very short presentation from abstracts

Duration 2.5 h

Chair and discussion leaders:

  • Felipe Palau (UPV) and Antonio Villarroel (ANOVE)

Speakers:

  • Hervé Monconduit (Patent Counsel at Bayer)
  • Daria Kim (Max Plank Institute for Innovation and Competition)
  • Nuria Urquia-Fernandez (Vice-President CPVO)
  • Richard Well (Tropic)
  • Hiroshi Ezura (Japan)
  • Dª. Eva Relaño Reyes (OEPM)
  • Hélène Guillot (ACLP)

Chair and discussion leaders:

Felipe Palau Ramírez

Felipe Palau Ramírez


Felipe Palau Ramírez is Professor of Commercial Law at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Spain, and a recognized expert in intellectual property, with particular expertise in patents, plant variety protection (PVP), licensing, and innovation in agriculture and biotechnology. His work focuses on the legal frameworks that support plant breeding and the commercialization of new technologies

Antonio Villarroel

Antonio Villarroel


Antonio Villarroel López de la Garma
is Director General of
ANOVE
, representing the Spanish plant breeding sector. An expert in plant breeders’ rights, intellectual property, and seed policy, he is actively involved in European and international discussions on innovation, variety protection, and the adoption of New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) in agriculture.

Speakers:

Hervé Monconduit

Hervé Monconduit


Hervé Monconduit is Head of Patents at Bayer France and a European and French Patent Attorney. He chairs the Intellectual Property Expert Group of CropLife International and of the IP Working Group of the French seed association UFS, and is actively involved in discussions on intellectual property rights in plant breeding innovation, and the role of patents in the deployment of New Genomic Techniques. His approach to IP focuses on balancing protection of innovation with access to technologies for plant breeders. Hervé will provide a global view from the perspective of a major agricultural innovation company.

“Unlocking the Potential of NGTs: Innovation, Access and Intellectual Property”

Daria Kim

Daria Kim


Daria Kim is a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (Munich, Germany), where she works on intellectual property law, innovation policy, and regulatory frameworks for biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Daria Kim is an academic expert who actively publishes on NGTs and their patent implications


“NGTs, Intellectual Property and Freedom-to-Operate in Plant Breeding”

Nuria Urquía Fernández

Nuria Urquía Fernández


Nuria Urquía Fernández is Vice-President of the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO), the European Union agency responsible for the administration of plant variety rights. She holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and a Master’s degree in European Union Law and Policies. Prior to joining CPVO, she served in senior positions within the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), as well as heading the Spanish Plant Variety Office. Her expertise spans plant breeding innovation, plant variety protection, biotechnology policy and international agricultural governance.


“NGTs, Plant Variety Protection and Intellectual Property”

Richard Wells

Richard Wells


Rich Wells is a senior UK and European patent attorney at Tropic Biosciences UK Ltd. Tropic is a pioneering agricultural biotechnology company developing precision-bred (otherwise known as NGT)  tropical crops that help address challenges including disease pressure, food waste and sustainability. The company has already commercialised the first new banana varieties introduced in more than 75 years. Rich leads the intellectual property strategies that protect Tropic’s crop innovations and the enabling technologies behind them, helping secure the company’s position as a leader in precision breeding and agricultural innovation.

Hiroshi Ezura

Hiroshi Ezura
Tsukuba University, Japan


Professor of Plant Molecular Breeding, University of Tsukuba, Japan.

Ezura’s work focuses on using advanced tools like CRISPR/Cas9 and Target-AID to improve the nutritional and agricultural traits of horticultural crops. A key figure in the global commercialization of genome-edited crops. He is best known for leading the team that developed the world’s first CRISPR edited food to enter the commercial market: the “Sicilian Rouge High GABA” tomato.

Eva Relaño Reyes

Eva Relaño Reyes


Eva Relaño Reyes is Head of the Chemical Patents Area at the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM). At the NGTs for Crops Congress, she will provide the perspective of the OEPM on the patentability, protection, and intellectual property challenges associated with innovations developed through New Genomic Techniques.

Hélène Guillot

Hélène Guillot


Hélène Guillot is Managing Director of the Agricultural Crop Licensing Platform (ACLP). With extensive expertise at the intersection of agriculture, intellectual property, and regulatory affairs, she leads the implementation of a collaborative licensing framework that facilitates access to patented traits for plant breeders across Europe. Through ACLP, she promotes transparent, fair, and efficient mechanisms to support innovation and competitiveness in crop breeding.

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