Workshops & Webinars on IP for Plants and Plant Breeding

The Webinar Savings Package

Coming soon for the CIOPORA Breeding Academy: enjoy 15% off by booking three webinars with a single registration!

NEW in November! The CIOPORA Breeding Academy

The CIOPORA Breeding Academy 2021 is the second edition of our education program designed specifically for plant breeders and R&D departments of the breeding companies. It provides advanced training in the latest breeding technologies, including New Breeding Techniques (NBT).

Join in November

Our Learner Community

The CIOPORA Academy is a unique education program on Intellectual Property protection for plant innovations. Over 300 horticulture professionals (and counting!) have visited our workshops and webinars. Subscribe to our event notifications and join in!

Become a member!

CIOPORA members and supporters enjoy 50% off all CIOPORA and CIOPORA Academy events. Join our global breeder community and contribute to CIOPORA's advocacy on IP for plants.

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#ThursdayIsLearnDay

Adopt the #ThursdayIsLearnDay motto for regular learning on IP for plants! Our webinars always take place Thursdays allowing for an easier integration into your work schedule. For schedule updates:

What is The CIOPORA Academy?

The CIOPORA Academy is a specialized international education program on IP for plants tailored to the needs of the green sector. The formats include small-group workshops held several times a year in different locations across the world and live webinars. Our lecturers are renowned IP experts and experienced legal practitioners.

Who should enroll?

The CIOPORA Academy offers workshops and webinars for breeders, propagators, growers, traders active in horticulture, as well as students of agricultural and horticultural specializations. Our workshops may also be beneficial for IPR managers, IP lawyers, in-house counsels and patent attorneys looking to expand their expertise in the unique area of plant IP.

What will I learn?

The CIOPORA Academy combines learning and networking. It encompasses all areas of IP Protection relevant to players of the green business, including but not limited to Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR), Plant Patents, Patents for plant-related inventions, and Trademarks for plant products. The webinars are broadcasted live with two sessions each to accommodate all time zones.

What is the cost?

Workshop and webinar fees vary and depend on topics, location and the number of modules offered in each workshop/webinar. CIOPORA members and supporters enjoy 50% discount on all regular rates. The program also offers up to 70% discounts for enrolled students. Students: please reach out to us for more information!

After studying biology in Freiburg i. Breisgau (1988-1994), Robert Boehm obtained his Ph.D. at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology, the University of Tübingen (Prof. Dr. Lutz Heide, 1999). He wrote his dissertation on metabolic engineering approaches to plant-derived therapeutic substances. In 1999, he joined Prof. Heide Schnabl’s group at the Institute of Plant Molecular Physiology and Biotechnology, Bonn University, to develop duckweed as an expression system for recombinant therapeutic proteins (molecular farming). To expand his expertise in plant biotechnology, he then spent some time at the Institute of Glycobiology at Oxford University as well as at the Institute of Agricultural Genetics in Hanoi/Viet Nam. Dr. Boehm is an expert in plant transformation and in vitro-culture and has worked as a lecturer at the Universities of Bonn and Dortmund.

In 2007, Dr. Robert Boehm joined Ornamental Bioscience GmbH as an R&D Manager. The company aimed to develop genetically engineered ornamental plants with improved tolerances against biotic and abiotic stress. In 2012, the company was taken over by Klemm + Sohn GmbH, a part of the Selecta one group. Selecta one is a leading breeder, producer, and marketer of vegetatively propagated ornamental plants worldwide. Here, Robert Boehm is heading the group´s central laboratory facility in Stuttgart, which includes plant pathogen diagnostic, in vitro culture, and biotechnological research.

Dr. Martina Juranić has started her scientific career at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, where she obtained her Ph.D. in 2013, followed by a postdoctoral training and Researcher position at CSIRO, Australia. In 2020, she joined the Ornamentals, Tissue Culture and Gene Technology group at Plant Breeding, WUR, Netherlands. Her research expertise comes from the field of sexual and asexual plant reproduction of different plant species, with the ultimate goal of utilizing this knowledge to advance breeding of crop plants. Currently, she is working to develop and implement new plant breeding techniques and related technologies in tissue culture, as well as to advance general tools specific for ornamentals.

“The CIOPORA workshop held in August 2019 in St. Charles/Chicago was a great opportunity to meet with companies active in asexually propagated plants and discuss common challenges in the protection of our crops. The topics were timely and relevant. The session on UPOV, Breeder’s Exemption, and U.S. Plant Patent Law was particularly interesting, as it provided real-life examples of the cross-border legal scenarios. Thanks to the CIOPORA team for always putting together a thoughtful and well-run program"

Amy Martin

Director Legal Affairs at Driscoll’s, Inc.

"CIOPORA Academy workshop was a great opportunity to learn varying perspectives on plant IP. All topics presented had value as they pertain to my daily work; however, I was particularly interested in the topics on Utility Patents and Plant Variety Protection (PVP) for asexually reproduced plants. Both speakers provided in-depth analysis of the different scope of protections under these two systems. The comfortable atmosphere of the workshops at the Hotel Baker was a wonderful location to network with like-minded colleagues."