Plant Patents beyond control

This AgroSpecial highlights the problems and conflicts of applying Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to biological material.

The extension of patent rights to genetic material has given multinational companies unprecedented control over plant materials with serious implications for the practices of traditional Farmer Seed systems and traditional plant breeders. It is also a direct challenge to the traditional concept shared by farmers and plant breeders that genetic material is a common good to be shared for universal benefit.

Plant patents beyond control has an extensive list of references including the websites of organizations directly involved with this issue.

No. of pages: 80

Published: 2004