The Supreme People's Court recently released the fourth batch of typical cases of judicial protection of intellectual property rights in the seed industry by people's courts. These cases involve plant varieties such as wheat, rice, corn, as well as economic crops such as chili peppers, cantaloupes, and soybeans. Several of them involve infringement cases of new plant varieties. Good planting leads to abundant grain, and the seed industry is the "chip" of agriculture, which is related to the "Chinese rice bowl". In recent years, China has continuously increased its efforts in breeding innovation, with a significant increase in the number and variety of varieties selected. More than 70% of the main crop varieties are protected varieties. At the same time, with the continuous increase in the number of applications and authorizations for new plant varieties, violations of plant variety rights and trade secrets are also increasing. Data shows that in 2023, there were 619 first instance cases of new plant varieties received by courts nationwide, an increase of nearly 40% compared to 2022. The right to new plant species is an important component of intellectual property rights in the seed industry, and it is also the source of innovation and development in the seed industry. But the research and development cycle of new varieties is long and the investment is large. From current practice, infringement cases are often difficult to detect, and there are difficulties in providing evidence, determining the amount of losses, and determining causal relationships. From the typical cases released by the Supreme Court, it can be seen that the economic value of the varieties involved is relatively high. Facing the difficulties in practice and the huge economic benefits involved in disputes, how to accurately grasp the intellectual property protection system, correctly apply the law, and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of rights holders tests the wisdom and ability of judicial organs. It is worth acknowledging that judicial organs are proactive in fulfilling their duties, actively solving problems such as difficulty in providing evidence and low compensation, and maximizing the protection of the interests of rights holders. In a case of infringement of the right to a new soybean plant variety, the court strengthened the use of evidence formed during seed administrative management and law enforcement, reasonably estimated the number of infringing seeds, and then reasonably determined the amount of compensation for infringement, solving the problem of proof for the right holder and ensuring that the right holder receives full compensation. For example, in a case of infringement of a new variety of corn plants, the infringer evaded supervision by selling a mixture of genuine and fake products and engaged in fraudulent activities. When determining the amount of compensation, the court focused on this situation to increase compensation efforts and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of the variety owner. It can be said that these typical cases reflect the clear guidance of the people's courts in severely punishing infringement and protecting innovation. They not only provide useful guidance for unifying judgment standards, but also provide strong guarantees for the innovative development of the seed industry. Protecting the intellectual property rights of the seed industry is to protect innovation in the seed industry and ensure food security. We look forward to the judicial organs continuously improving their ability and level of intellectual property protection in the seed industry, fully playing the guiding role of typical cases, further promoting the coordination of civil judicial protection and administrative law enforcement protection, fully safeguarding the "money bags" of farmers and the "rice bags" and "vegetable baskets" of the masses, and helping the seed industry to innovate and develop with high quality. (Lai Xin She)
Edit：Jia jia Responsible editor：Yi Yi
Source：http://www.legaldaily.com.cn
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