What is the impact of the current Plant Variety Rights (PVR) system of the European Union (EU) in terms of the economy and the environment? This key question will be addressed by a new study project started by HFFA Research GmbH and commissioned by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of the EU.

The plant breeding sector in the EU is based on a specific form of intellectual property rights, the so-called PVR, delivering a comprehensive intellectual property protection to the plant breeding sector while at the same time stimulating further innovation in breeding new varieties for agricultural production. The EU’s PVR system provides for a uniform EU-wide protection and is administered by the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) of the EU since 1995.

The focus of the HFFA Research project is to provide sophisticated quantitative information highlighting various economic and environmental impacts of the PVR system as it is performed in the EU. This will explicitly include the potential of the EU’s PVR system to meet the EU’s Green Deal objectives – including the Biodiversity Strategy and the Farm to Fork Strategy – and its broader goal of reaching climate neutrality within the EU. Additionally, the relevance of the EU’s PVR system for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals will be highlighted, thus providing facts on the extent to which it can contribute to a sustainable global agricultural and food system.

The analysis of the study particularly aims at quantifying the associated values of the EU’s PVR system in terms of yields and subsequently market impacts (on supply, demand, and prices), overall food availability effects, farm and societal income changes, trade balance changes and associated (virtual) land use/trade effects, accompanied greenhouse gas emission and biodiversity effects, as well as water use impacts.

The HFFA Research GmbH assessment will be conducted in collaboration with the CPVO for ensuring highest data quality. The results of the assessment will form part of a larger EUIPO study project aiming to quantify the economic contribution of diverse intellectual property rights intensive industries in the EU. The overall objective of these studies is to provide policymaking in the EU with relevant evidence as well as to raise awareness among European citizens about the impacts of intellectual property.

For more information about the project, please contact steffen.noleppa@hffa-research.com or lina.staubach@hffa-research.com.

Legal notification: Kindly note that the opinions expressed hereby are those of HFFA Research GmbH only and do not represent the EUIPO’s official position.