Plant Variety Rights

The SME Fund 2024 offers an unparalleled opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to receive financial support for intellectual property (IP) services, including protecting plant varieties. As the application deadline of December 5, 2024, approaches, we spoke with Sara Piva, International Cooperation Officer at the CPVO (Community Plant Variety Office), to discuss the significance of this fund for plant breeders and how they can make the most of it.

Welcome back to our 'Plant Breeding Success Stories', where we share interviews from SMEs across the Plant Breeding sector. In this article, we're chatting with FitzGerald Nurseries, an Irish company based in Stonyford, Kilkenny.

CPVO: Could you briefly describe the work of FitzGerald Nurseries?

FitzGerald Nurseries: Our operations are built on the foundation of registering and representing intellectual property (IP) to carve out an innovative niche in various crops, which are now produced on an unprecedented scale in Europe. FitzGerald Nurseries focuses on ornamental plants,

Following the withdrawal agreement of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU), the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has informed the CPVO with regard to titles currently in force in the United Kingdom in this way:

Varieties with EU Plant Variety Rights granted by the CPVO and effective on 31 December 2020 continue to be protected under UK legislation in the UK for their remaining lifespan and are referred to as Retained EU Plant Variety Rights.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) requires holders of Retained EU Plant Variety Rights to provide an address