News & Events

Agritech Thymes: Rare UK Plant Variety Rights ruling provides guidance on the interpretation of “essentially derived varieties”

In this article, we examine a recent UK Plant Variety Right (PVR) case involving “Nadorcott” and “Tang Gold” mandarins. This judgement clarifies what constitutes an essentially derived variety (EDV) and …

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Agritech Thymes: Unlocking the Soil Microbiome: Driving Agritech Innovation in the UK

The UK offers an ideal platform for harnessing the untapped potential of soil and plant microorganisms. Although much of my professional experience has focused on the human microbiome, I have …

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EU Agrees on NGT Plant Regulation: What It Means for Patents and Licensing

The European Parliament and Council have reached a provisional agreement for plants developed using New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) – below we summarise the main points and set out the requirements …

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Agritech Thymes: The Bite of Implied Consent: Lessons from the Pink Lady Case

Can the supply of a plant variety without clear and defined restrictions on its use be an implicit consent to commercialise it? This case centres on the evidence required to …

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The Bite of Implied Consent: Lessons from the Pink Lady Case

A recent European Union court decision considers the issue of implied consent to commercialise a plant variety, and whether the evidence meets the threshold of “serious doubts” of the validity …

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Agritech Thymes: A review of protection for gene edited plants

As we head into a new season, it’s a good time to revisit the current status of protection for Essentially Derived Varieties (EDVs) and plants derived from New Genomic Techniques …

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Agritech Thymes: Agritech 2030: Forecasting the Technologies Poised to Transform Farming

Whilst yet to recover to the levels of 2011-2021, where capital invested in agritech increased 20-fold, investor funding in agritech is starting to pick up, and 2025 is set to …

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Plant Patent Infringement in the US Relies on Evidence of Asexual Reproduction

A recent case in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Dallas Division) once again highlights how important the initial pleadings and evidence in patent infringement cases …

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The draft of The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025 reveals practical details on how to obtain a Precision Bred Organism status

In a recent blog post we discussed the Precision Breeding Regulatory Framework developed by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Further details on the application process for Precision Bred Organism confirmation …

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