IPRs and the Future of Plant Breeding in Canada

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IPRs and the Future of Plant Breeding in Canada

• December 14-15 CAIRN workshop
• Viktoriya Galushko

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Research environment in Canadian agriculture
before 1980s

• Formal plant breeding was conducted by public
  sector
• New technologies and varieties were freely
  disseminated
• Researchers freely exchanged ideas and results
• Plants were considered a natures product and
  thus unpatentable

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Policy shift in 1980s

• Breakthroughs in molecular biology science
  new possibilities for seed
  identification
• 1980 the US Court held that life forms are
  patentable (Diamond vs Chakrabarty)
• 1982 the Canadian IP office allowed patenting
  of single-celled organisms or within cell
  processes
• Cuts in public RD and encouragement of private
  sector investment
• Adoption of Plant Breeders Rights in 1990

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Change in research environment since 1980s wheat
and canola

• Wheat research has remained predominantly public
  with a limited application of biotechnology and
  IPRs
• Canola research has experienced a dramatic
  increase in private investment with an extensive
  application of biotechnology and IPRs

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Distribution of the canola research results
between the public and private sectors
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IPRs in the canola breeding industry
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The Issue

• IPRs are believed to stimulate innovation
• BUT
• IPRs separate building blocks in cumulative
  research
• IPRs may restrict access to upstream innovations
  necessary for subsequent research
• IPRs may stifle or slow down innovations
  when research is cumulative

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The Issue contd

• IPRs can change the nature of public research
• Propensity to patent by private sector may spill
  over to the public sector (e.g. AAFC canola US
  patent)
• Prospects of future financial gains may increase
  unwillingness of public researchers to share
  information
• Privatization of technologies may push public
  researchers towards forming close ties with the
  industry
• Accessing all pieces of IP may become
  prohibitively costly for public researchers

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Impact of IPRs on public researchers wheat
versus canola breeding industries?

• Survey of the canola and wheat breeders
  (Oikonomou (2007), Galushko (2007))
• Main points
• Access to research materials
• Secrecy
• Sharing
• Denied requests for research materials
• Information flows

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Protection of research inputs
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Reasons for increased protection
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Access to research inputs and genetic materials
Wheat Canola
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Access to research inputs and genetic materials
contd

• Canola sector
• almost everybody in our industry can see the
  fact the freely available material for release
  without any burdens has dried out. So, we are
  really locked in a point where 1995, 1998, and
  2000 was the last time where you could freely
  access material or germplasm

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Proportion of the developed technologies placed
in the public domain
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Sharing in the breeding sector

• You are unwilling to disclose your inventions
  and share them with other researchers (1
  strongly agree, 7 strongly disagree)
• Wheat sector average 6.2 (disagree)
• Quote It is difficult to make a headway hiding
  information because there are so few people doing
  wheat work
• Canola sector average 4.29

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Sharing of research materials
Wheat breeding sector Canola breeding sector
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Sharing of research tools/germplasm contd

• Quotes by wheat breeders
• As public researchers within Canada we should be
  providing germplasm to whoever asks especially to
  other public organizations. For private industry
  we have to be more careful what they are going to
  do with it
• The private industry is less likely to share and
  its getting worse. I think these gentlemens
  agreements in the next few years are going to be
  very difficult and they will disappear at all

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Sharing of research tools/germplasm contd

• Quotes by canola breeders
• with all the changes in the patent system we
  dont tend to give our best material
• it is in the interest of researchers as well as
  the institution to protect the research before
  you give it to anybody. Once I have protected the
  invention I am willing to share it with others

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Is unwillingness to share research inputs
confined to the private sector?

• NO
• AAFC and the genes for disease resistance
• Quote by one canola breeder AAFCs desire to
  capture the benefits from patenting and PBRs have
  made the exchange of basic material much more
  difficult than it ought to be

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Views on secrecy in the canola and wheat sectors
Wheat breeding sector Canola breeding sector
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Views on secrecy in the canola and wheat sectors
contd

• Wheat sector 69 reported increased secrecy
• Canola sector
• Everybody knows what everyone else is doing but
  nobody talks about it. Secrecy has increased to
  ridiculous levels
• A number of years ago we had canola meetings
  where the breeders would describe what they were
  working on. Now we dont say anything. We have
  prior knowledge here and we cant go and discuss
  it elsewhere because the business offices are
  concerned about patents and freedom to operate
  (FTO) issues

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Is there a tragedy in the Canadian breeding
industry? Costs and benefits of IPRs

• Investment in the canola industry has increased.
  1989 - 7.1 mln., 2000 22.5 mln. (1989
  dollars) (Thomas (2005))
• Number of new varieties has increased

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Is there a tragedy?

• Promising areas of research are abandoned due to
  painful negotiation process
• Delays in research (maximum delay of 5 years)
• Canola 55 reported that they had to cease the
  projects because of inability to access the
  material
• Wheat 33 reported cessation of projects

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Reasons for not being able to obtain research
materials
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Key points

• IPRs has increased investment
• IP protection affects the willingness of public
  researchers to share information and materials
• Increased IPRs are associated with reduced
  germplasm flows
• there has been gradual erosion in access to and
  free sharing of germplasm, which certainly limits
  access to the new traits that have been
  identified
• the current system does not make the best use of
  germplasm simply because part of it has been
  separated off into patented positions and so that
  some germplasm has become very difficult or
  impossible to access
• protection has closed down a wide sharing of
  germplasm amongst the whole range of breeders

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• THANK YOU!
• QUESTIONS?