Designed specifically for breeders of ornamental plants, the first edition of our Amsterdam Workshop on Intellectual Property protection for plants will take place one day prior to IFTF 2019 on November 4 – 5, 2019.
Houthoff Amsterdam Gustav Mahlerplein 50 1082 MA Amsterdam
Tentative program
November 4:
15:00 – 16:15 – Module 1: Trade Secrets and Plant Breeders’ Rights by Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis, Legal Counsel at Houthoff, The Netherlands
What will I learn?
Present-day breeding companies employ data-driven technologies that generate valuable information about their breeding programmes that is kept as a trade secret. In recent years, trade secrets have become as important as patent rights for protecting innovation. While globalisation and increasing digitalisation present new challenges to safeguarding trade secrets, plant breeders need to know what, in legal terms, constitutes a trade secret and how confidentiality and the use thereof can be monitored and preserved. This lecture will focus on the EU legal framework for the protection of trade secrets.
16:45 – 18:00 – Module 2: Enforcement of IP Rights and Commercial Claims in the Netherlands by Tjeerd Overdijk, Partner at Vondst, The Netherlands
What will I learn?
The Netherlands is generally known as a jurisdiction with an effective and high-quality legal system: litigating is not so outrageously expensive as in the U.S. or the UK, the procedural rules are no-nonsense and relatively simple, and the courts are usually hands-on taking a very practical approach to solving disputes. During this module, the speaker will shed light on the IPR enforcement rules, both from an EU and the national Dutch perspective. He will provide a practical overview of available court actions for enforcing Plant Variety Rights in the ornamental sector, including enforcement seizures and evidence seizures, compensation of damages and the surrender of profit obtained, as well as other useful measures in case of IPR infringements. The speaker will aim at engaging the participants in an interactive session and will employ multiple practical examples from the available case-law.
19:00 – Networking Dinner
November 5:
09:00 – 10:15 – Module 3: Advanced-level License Contracts by Philippe de Jong, Partner at Altius, Belgium
What will I learn?
During this module, the speaker will explain the concept of licensing and provide an overview of various types of licensing contracts. This lecture will also provide guidance in regard of practical issues surrounding licensing, such as whether a license should be registered. The hard core of this course will be formed by a practical and, hopefully, interactive discussion of all relevant aspects involved with licensing agreements. Notably, with the help of a collection of practical examples the speaker will take you through the essential terms and typical clauses in a licensing agreement, including scope of license, the division of rights (powers) and obligations between licensor and licensee, available options for maintenance and enforcement of the licensed rights, and alternatives for the resolution of disputes.
10:45 – 12:00 – Module 4: Plant Variety Protection and Trademarks and their Enforcement in the Russian Federation by Anna Fischer, Legal Counsel at Juralink, the Netherlands/Russia
What will I learn?
Receive a full overview of Russia’s IP for the agricultural and horticultural sectors. Learn about how to protect your PBRs and Trademarks, the state authorities to deal with and the regulatory requirements for launching, importing, and distributing plants. What protection and enforcement mechanisms are available to breeders? Is a registration of a license agreement worth its while? Are there any relevant legislative developments in the country? The presentation intends to provide you with answers to these questions and help improve your IP strategy in Russia.
13:15 – 14:30 – Module 5: Basics and New Developments in Trademark Law in the EU by Thomas Leidereiter, Founder & Owner at Green Rights, Germany
What will I learn?
Protecting your brand(s) is critical as ever. With new absolute grounds for refusal in place and a more restrictive examination practice, trademark owners need to be proactive and vigilant. You must ensure all the rights mechanisms are in place to defend and strengthen your brand, whilst at the same time be looking to increase its value. The module will offer an overview of key case law and trade mark legislative reforms, as well as handling infringement and anti-counterfeiting.
15:00 – 16:15 – Module 6: Protection of harvested material by Philippe de Jong, Partner at Altius, Belgium
What will I learn?
During this module, the speaker will analyse the notion of ‘harvested material’ in Plant Variety Rights law. The focus will be, inter alia, on the interrelationship between harvested material, on the one hand, and ‘propagating material’ and ‘products directly obtained’ from harvested material, on the other. During the lecture, we will look into the cumulative conditions imposed on the protection of harvested material under both UPOV 1991 and the EU Plant Variety Rights legislation. Also, the place of harvested material in licence contracts and its fate under the doctrine of exhaustion (first sale) will be discussed. In this context, attention will be paid to UPOV’s attempts to clarify the conditional protection of harvested material, as well as to the potential impact of the recent CJEU’s Advocate-General’s Opinion in the Nadorcott mandarin case.
Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis specializes in the 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. Furthermore, Fleur assists clients in implementing customs seizure actions based on the EU Anti-Piracy Regulation. Over the past decade, Fleur has litigated in various cases before the Dutch courts, the Dutch Board of Plant Varieties and the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market.
Tjeerd Overdijk
Partner, Vondst Advocaten, the Netherlands
Tjeerd Overdijk studied Law at Leiden University and has been a lawyer since 1984. With over 25 years of experience, he is an all-rounder in the field of Intellectual Property with a special interest in Plant Variety Rights. He was involved in the world’s first court case on the concept of Essentially Derived Varieties (EDVs) and he has gained considerable experience on this subject. He also has experience with litigation before the Board of Appeal of the Community Plant Variety Office in Angers, France. Tjeerd is a member of various professional associations, including CIOPORA, the Netherlands Copyright Association, the AIPPI, INTA, MARQUES and the European Communities Trademarks Association (ECTA).
Philippe de Jong
Partner at Altius, Belgium
Philippe specializes in Intellectual Property law, with a particular focus on Patents, Plant Variety Rights, and parallel import issues. He also has an extensive experience with regulatory matters concerning the life sciences and agri-food industries. Further areas of his practice include medical law, media law, and the fair trade practices in a variety of sectors. Philippe regularly lectures at conferences and seminars and publishes articles in prominent IP journals.
Anna Fischer is a lawyer practicing both in Russia and Germany. She provides legal advice for companies and private clients doing business in Russia. Her practive includes Corporate, Customs and Intellectual Property Law with the main focus on Plant Breeders’ Rights and Trademarks. Anna assists clients with all IPR related issuess, including PBR & TM registrations, turn-key trials support, developing the royalty and intra-group licensing strategy, as well as negotiation of third-party license agreements, support during the M&A, transaction including due diligence and assessment of IPR portfolio, mediation and dispute resolution concerning violation of IPR rights.
Thomas Leidereiter, LL.M.
Attorney & Owner at Green Rights
Thomas Leidereiter 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.
