First Learners Webinar Series 2023
first learners webinar series 2023
CIOPORA Academy’s new First Learners Webinars are an exciting educational program designed to cater to students and professionals who are entering the world of Intellectual Property for plants.
This webinar series aims to provide basic training on Plant IP, a niche field that is often overlooked but holds significant importance in modern-day horticulture. The program is conducted by expert speakers, who are leaders in the world of protecting new plant varieties. Participating is a great way for learners to gain insights into the world of Plant IP.
Whether you are a student or a professional, this program is an excellent way to enhance your knowledge and skills in the field of Plant Breeders’ Rights.
Dates & Sessions
Thursday is Learn-Day!
JUNE 1 – 9:00 AM CEST OR 5:00 PM CEST
JUNE 8 – 3:00 PM CEST OR 11:00 PM CEST
JUNE 15 – 9:00 AM CEST OR 5:00 PM CEST
OCTOBER 19 – 9:00 AM CEST OR 5:00 PM CEST
OCTOBER 26 – 9:00 AM CEST OR 5:00 PM CEST
NOVEMBER 2 – 9:00 AM CET OR 5:00 PM CET
We offer two live sessions for all webinars to accommodate all time zones. Please click on the times to find your time zone. Each session includes two lectures with a short break in between.
Lecture duration: ca. 45 min (30 min presentation, 15 min Q&A – direct interaction with the speaker possible). Total duration: ca. 1h 45 min.
Registration
WEBINAR SAVINGS PACKAGE
Save more than 15% and join all 12 webinars in the
First Learners Webinar Series:
EUR 999.00/1998.00 (member/guest).
Don’t want to join all Webinars?
Register for single-day Webinars below.
EUR 199.00/398.00 (member/guest).
Webinar series program
june 1, 2023
Carolina Cordero di Vonzo
Carolina Cordero di Vonzo
Senior Manager, Baker McKenzie, Italy
Carolina Cordero di Vonzo is a Senior Manager in the IP Advisory team of Baker McKenzie’s Italy offices. She runs the Plant Variety Protection unit for Baker McKenzie Italy. She earned a double Bachelor degree in law from the University of Turin (Italy) and the University Paris V (France), a Masters’ Degree in law from the University of Turin (Italy) and a Master of Laws in IT and IP Law from the University of Hong Kong. She has a broad experience in all aspects of Intellectual Property and unfair competition law with a specific focus on Plant Variety Rights. Carolina guides companies in the agribusiness sector on plant variety registration, commercialisation and enforcement strategies in Italy and the EU. She drafts and negotiates agreements relevant for the industry such as growers, nursery and propagation, research and development, trial, licensing agreements. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Carolina served as in-house counsel to a manufacturing group headquartered in Hong Kong, heading the IP team responsible for APAC, EMEA and LATAM.
The Basic Principles of Plant Breeder’s Rights
Speaker: Carolina Cordero di Vonzo, Baker McKenzie – Italy
Summary: Innovation in plant material is essential to address challenges from both the market and environmental conditions. Developing new plant varieties requires technical expertise and significant investments in time and resources. This webinar aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to plant breeders’ rights, with a what-why-when-how (and how much!) approach. Participants will learn about the fundamentals of PBRs, the benefits of using them to enhance their firm’s performance, the ideal time to integrate PBRs into their business plan, and how to obtain and manage them effectively. Join us to gain a better understanding of PBRs and their importance in the plant breeding industry.
Yeşim Metin
Yeşim Metin
Patent and Trademark Attorney at NAZALI
She is a Patent and Trademark Attorney at NAZALI and has been providing consultancy on intellectual and industrial property issues for 16 years. Yeşim is also the leader of the team that handles the prosecution, monitoring and renewal of domestic and foreign clients’ IP portfolios. In this context, she has gained extensive experience and expertise in the drafting of many patent specifications, in trademark filing and oppositions, in plant breeder rights applications, as well as customs protection applications of IP. Yesim publishes articles in various domestic and foreign journals on PBR, gives lectures on trademarks, and is a candidate for European Patent Attorney.
The Basic Principles of Trademark Protection
Speaker: Yeşim Metin, Nazali Tax & Legal – Turkey
Summary: This lecture will review the fundamentals trademark protection besides variety denomination. It also provides guidance on searching, filing, monitoring, and enforcing the trademarks by giving basic tips during application phase and post grant phase. The commercialisation and marketing power of trademarks will also be discussed.
June 8, 2023
Travis Bliss, Ph.D.
Travis Bliss
Partner at Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel LLP
Travis Bliss counsels a variety of clients ranging from individual inventors to small businesses to Fortune 500 companies in nearly all aspects of Intellectual Property law. Travis prepares and prosecutes patent applications; litigates patent, Trademark, and other IP disputes in federal and state courts; represents clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board; counsels clients in a variety of IP issues, including due diligence, FTO, infringement, and patentability; and prepares and negotiates IP licenses. From a technology standpoint, Travis’s practice falls largely within the life sciences field and also includes a large focus on novel plant varieties in the agriculture, horticulture, and cannabis/hemp industries. Travis has been a lawyer member of CIOPORA since 2014.
The Basic Principles of Patents
Speaker: Travis Bliss, Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel – USA
Summary: Patents are a type of intellectual property protection that can be used to protect many types of invention, which can include novel plant varieties produced by traditional breeding or new breeding techniques. In this session, we will discuss the jurisdictional (country-by-country) and exclusionary (right to stop others from doing something, but not necessarily the right to do something yourself) nature of patents, as well as the scope of protection they can afford and certain limits on those protections, especially as they pertain to novel plant varieties.
Different Types of Plant Variety Protection in the U.S.
Speaker: Travis Bliss, Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel – USA
Summary: In the U.S., there are two distinct types of patents that can be used to protect a novel plant variety, and there is also a completely separate Plant Variety Protection certificate that can be used. Each of these options has different scope of protection, filing date requirements, cost, etc. In this session we will explore each of these three options and we will compare the options to explore why one may be more useful than another in a particular situation.
june 15, 2023
Judith de Roos
Judith de Roos
Plant Breeders’ Rights Attorney, AOMB, The Netherlands
Judith de Roos worked for many years as a lawyer at Plantum, the Dutch industry association for plant breeding companies. In October 2021 Judith joined AOMB as a plant breeders’ rights attorney. Next to that, she acts as deputy judge of the Plant Breeders’ Rights Chamber of the Appeal Court in The Hague.
The Basic Principles of Applying for PBR
Speaker: Judith de Roos, AOMB Intellectual Property – The Netherlands
Summary: This lecture will discuss the different requirements when filing a PBR application. The basic requirements will be discussed as well as country specific formalities. The lecture will include a short introduction to the DUS testing and Technical Questionnaires, variety denominations and the UPOV PRISMA system.
Thomas Leidereiter, LL.M.
Thomas Leidereiter
Attorney, Green Rights, Germany
Thomas Leidreiter is an attorney and the owner of Green Rights in Hamburg, Germany. With nearly two decades’ experience as a specialized IP lawyer, including 14 years at a major German law firm and five years at his own, he has extensive expertise covering Plant Variety Protection, trademarks, designs, copyright and competition law. Thomas advises clients on all aspects of IP protection for plant innovations, including the licensing and enforcement of IP rights. He has been involved in a number of major court cases dealing with fundamental PVR issues in the ornamental and fruit sector. Thomas is a member of INTA, the German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR), CIOPORA and CIOPORA Germany. He is a regular speaker on IP topics with several associations and institutions.
Troubleshooting in the PBR Application Process and legal means
Speaker: Thomas Leidereiter, Green Rights – Germany
Summary: This presentation analyses different stages of a plant variety’s life cycle (before the actual breeding, the filing of the application, during the examination, as well as after the grant), identifying possible issues and available remedies. Following the “symptom – cause – remedy” logic, the participants will be trained to anticipate and remedy the problems in their practice.
October 19, 2023
Philippe de Jong
Philippe de Jong
Partner at Altius, Belgium
Philippe is a Partner at Altius (Belgium) and specialises in Intellectual Property law, with a particular focus on Patents, Plant Variety Rights and parallel import issues. Philippe also has extensive experience in regulatory matters concerning the life sciences and agri-food industries. Other areas of practice include medical law, media law and fair trade practices in a variety of sectors.
Philippe regularly lectures at conferences and seminars and publishes articles in various leading legal journals relating to his area of expertise.
He has worked as a consultant for the EU Plant Variety Office and is also an active member of various lawyer and sector organisations, including: the European Patent Lawyers Association (EPLAW), Euroseeds, the Licensing Executives Society (LES), and the International Community of Breeders of Asexually Reproduced Horticultural Plants (CIOPORA).
Ownership of new plant innovations under EU law
Speaker: Philippe de Jong, Altius – Belgium
Summary: In this session the speaker will explain who owns the rights to newly created varieties under EU law, the type of agreements and clauses that are typically used to regulate such ownership, and the legal issues that may arise in the absence thereof.
Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis
Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis
Counsel, Houthoff
Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis is a Counsel at Houtfoff (The Netherlands) and specializes in technology-related Intellectual Property matters, with focus on Patents and Plant Variety Rights. In her daily practice, Fleur represents a wide variety of domestic and international companies that are active in technology-intensive business sectors, such as agrifood and biotech. Fleur is an experienced patent litigator and is one of a handful of lawyers in the Netherlands with extensive experience in litigation relating to national and Community Plant Variety Rights. Over the past seventeen years, Fleur has litigated in various cases before the Dutch courts, the Dutch Board of Plant Varieties and the CPVO. Furthermore, Fleur has broad experience in advising on commercial contracts, including R&D agreements, license and technology transfer agreements.
Novelty (period of grace) in PBR and Patent Law
Speaker: Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis, Houthoff Coöperatief – The Netherlands
Summary: Novelty is a requirement under both PBR and Patent law, however, the concept of novelty is fundamentally different. Breeders should be aware of this difference and which acts are ‘novelty damaging’ or trigger the period of grace, to secure protection of their varieties under both systems.
October 26, 2023
Emanuela Truffo
Emanuela Truffo
Partner, Jacobacci & Associati, Torino, Italy
Emanuela specializes in contentious and non-contentious intellectual property matters,
with a specific focus on PBRS, new plant varieties rights and their enforcement.
She has developed particular expertise in the negotiation and drafting of agreements such
as license, non-disclosure, non-compete and coexistence agreements concerning IP rights
and copyrights as well as for commercial transactions. She graduated in law with honors
from the University of Turin in 1999. She was admitted to the (Turin) Bar in 2003. In 2006
she graduated with honors from the University of Turin School of Economics with a Postgraduate Masters in marketing and communication. She is admitted to the Supreme Italian
Courts since 2022.
Emanuela is a frequent speaker at IP seminars as well as regarding contractual matters and
collaborates with the Chambers of Commerces in Italy as well as with Universities (Turin,
Genoa).
Emanuela is a Ciopora member.
The Basics of the Scope of Protection in PBR
Speaker: Emanuela Truffo, Studio Legale Jacobacci & Associati – Italy
Summary: Plant Breeders Rights (PBRs) are pivotal to develop a successful business in the modern agricultural industry. But what is the scope of a PBR? In a nutshell, what can a PBR owner prevent any competitors from doing? As any other intellectual proprietary rights, a PBR is a monopoly, an award granted to the breeder by the national and international legal systems to pay tribute to the breeder’s efforts and investments. But, in a modern market economy, any monopoly should be limited to let business grow. Let’s discover together those limits concerning PBRs.
Ernst-Jan Louwers
ERNST-JAN LOUWERS
Co-founding Partner at Louwers IP | Technology Advocaten, the Netherlands
With a track record of over 35 years as a Dutch lawyer, Ernst-Jan has a vast experience as a specialized IP, technology and contract lawyer and litigator. After 20 years in a large law firm, he started the IP and technology boutique firm Louwers IP|Technology Advocaten in 2006. His practice covers IP and commercial aspects of plant breeding, distribution, commercialization, and enforcement. This includes drafting of licensing contracts, (strategic) advice, compliance, arbitration, and litigation. He is a lawyer member to CIOPORA and the CIOPORA Working Group on Enforcement. Among others he is member to the Dutch plant breeders association Plantum as well as several national and international associations on IP and enforcement. Ernst-Jan is also a listed arbitrator at the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI).
The Exceptions and Limitations of PBR
Speaker: Ernst-Jan Louwers, Louwers Advocaten, The Netherlands
Summary: Plant variety protection grants breeders exclusive rights to their new plant varieties for a certain period of time. What are the exceptions and limitations to these exclusive rights? What is the ratio behind them? And what are the conditions for these exceptions and limitations to apply? This session will give you a better understanding of the concept and rules governing the breeders’ exemption, farmer’s privilege and exceptions for research and experimental purposes as well as some public interest purposes (for instance compulsory licensing).
november 2, 2023
Isabel Pérez-Cabrero
Isabel Pérez-Cabrero
Principal Associate at Garrigues
Isabel Pérez-Cabrero is a principal associate in the Industrial and Intellectual Property Department at Garrigues, where she practices in the areas of patents, trademarks, industrial designs, advertising and unfair competition, with a particular focus on plant varieties. She deals with both litigation and contractual aspects in defence of the aforementioned rights, and has extensive experience in advising holders of plant varieties, whose defence she has carried out before the Board of Appeal of the Community Plant Variety Office, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the General Court of the European Union. Isabel is a regular contributor to the Magister Lvcentinvs promoted by the University of Alicante and is a lecturer on the Master’s Degree in Access to the Legal Profession offered by the European University of Valencia. She is also the author of several articles and chapters in Spanish publications on substantive aspects of intellectual property.
The Basics of Essentially Derived Varieties
Speaker: Isabel Pérez-Carbrero, J&A Garrigues – Spain
Summary: The session will provide an overview of the basics of the Essentially Derived Variety (EDV) concept, analyzing the new UPOV Explanatory Notes (EXN) on EDV, the requirements for a variety to be declared an EDV as well as the legal consequences of a variety being an EDV. The theoretical basics will be blended with actual court cases concerning the concept and observations on practical application and importance of EDV rules.
Nicola Novaro
Nicola Novaro
Attorney & owner at Law Firm Novaro, Italy
Nicola Novaro obtained his Law Degree in 1996 from the University of Pavia. In 2000, he became a lawyer after enrolling at the Law Society of Imperia. During the same year, he obtained a Master’s Degree in Intellectual Property organized by the IP Centre in Verona. Over the past twenty years, Nicola has been representing numerous international breeding companies in filing for Trademark, Plant Variety Right, and industrial designs before national, regional, and international offices. Currently, Nicola manages a portfolio of over 3,000 Trademarks and PVRs.
In the past decade, Nicola has become an expert on PVR and other IP right enforcement in Italy. He has extensive experience in representing clients in IP right-related civil and criminal proceedings before Italian Courts. Nicola also permanently represents CIOPORA in The European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights at EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office).
The Basics of Enforcement of IP Rights
Speaker: Nicola Novaro, Law Firm Novaro – Italy
Summary: This seminar seeks to introduce all IP rights enforceable such as PBR, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, designs, and copyrights. It will also give some basic information about contractual and non-contractual enforcement such as unfair competition, misleading advertising, and commercial unfair trade. Possible legal action to be used are civil legal action starting from out-of-court remedies such as cease&desist letters and press release communication to in-court civil actions such as search orders, preliminary action for injunctions, seizure and publication with penalties. The importance of the evidence in and out-courts will be discussed, and it will be given an overview of the penal legal actions.
Webinar user manual
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CIOPORA - Uniting Breeders, Protecting Innovation
CIOPORA is a community of breeders of asexually reproduced horticultural plants. It is globally accepted as an independent non-profit and non-governmental organization seeking to establish effective IP protection systems for horticulture.
Plant breeding is an elaborate and cost-consuming process. It may take a plant breeder more than a decade to develop a new plant variety with an enhanced set of characteristics. The progress in breeding in horticulture and a great diversity of horticultural products on the market can only be guaranteed by means of effective Intellectual Property protection for plant innovations. For 60 years, CIOPORA has been actively contributing to the development of effective systems of Plant Variety Protection (PVP) worldwide.
