Protection of Plant Variety Rights for Chain Agricultural Enterprises
Protection of Plant Variety Rights for Chain Agricultural Enterprises
After a Shandong agricultural development company cultivated a new cherry variety that became popular in the domestic market, it was discovered that several cooperatives in Shaanxi were breeding seedlings and selling fruit without permission. The infringement affected eight planting bases across three provinces. Upon accepting the commission, Caichen Fuwo first secured evidence of infringement through genetic testing and comparison, and combined it with notarized sampling to clarify the infringement chain. During the litigation phase, Caichen Fuwo addressed the defendant's defense that merely selling fruit did not constitute infringement. The company cited judicial interpretations on the protection of new plant varieties, demonstrating that the "planting, fruiting, and sales" chain of conduct constituted a complete infringement chain. The company also advocated for punitive damages and submitted three years of sales data and profit analysis reports. Ultimately, the court ordered the infringing party to cease breeding, inactivate existing seedlings, and compensate the infringer for economic losses of 2.8 million yuan, effectively safeguarding the client's rights to variety innovation.