John Sears and Carin Miller Deliver Program on Plant Breeding Programs to University Tech Transfer Audience

Plant cultivation and plant breeding comprise the largest share of the nation’s $1.055 trillion agricultural economy, and our universities are unique drivers of the genetic diversity of our plant germplasm. University plant breeding programs are capable of generating significant licensing activity and collaboration opportunities for university tech transfer offices (TTOs).

To help TTOs better understand the intellectual property and licensing issues unique to this complex arena, JMIN partners John Sears and Carin Miller recently presented “University Plant Breeding Programs: Key Intellectual Property Protection And Licensing Considerations.”

During this continuing legal education program hosted by Tech Transfer Central, Carin and John addressed several critical considerations, including:

• The role of universities in plant breeding and competition with private plant breeding companies 
• Utility patents, plant patents, and plant variety protection
• Trademark and trade secrets
• The anatomy of a plant license
• Foreign IP protection of plants

For further background and analysis on this topic, please read How to Protect Your Intellectual Property in the Highly Competitive – and Highly Essential – Field of Agriculture on the JMIN blog.