Vietnam strives to protect plant breeders’ rights

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh, many good plant varieties created by Vietnamese have been cultivated, contributing to turning Vietnam into one of the world’s big agro-forestry-fishery exporters.

A plant variety protection system was set up in Vietnam in 2000, he said, adding that the country joined in the UPOV Convention six years later in an effort to protect plant varieties more effectively through cooperation with UPOV member countries.

The Deputy Minister noted that the Vietnamese Government has decided to adjust plant variety protection-related contents of the Law on Intellectual Property to make them suitable with the new situation.

Tran Dinh Long, Chairman of the Vietnam Variety Plant Association, said that variety copyright remains a challenge in plant variety development in Vietnam.

The copyright will encourage scientists to create better varieties of plants and help Vietnam build its own brand name, he said.

UPOV Deputy Secretary General Peter Button said apart from guidance and legal assistance provided by the UPOV, it is necessary to garner experience of UPOV member countries to facilitate the effectuation of relevant laws.

The two-day seminar was jointly held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the UPOV, the US Patent and Trademark Office, and the Ministry of Agriculture , Forestry and Fisheries of Japan.