U.S. seed industry comes together to form Seed Innovation and Protection Alliance

Responding to an increasing need to promote the importance and understanding of seed innovation, members of the American seed industry have come together to form the Seed Innovation and Protection Alliance (SIPA).   

 

SIPA has support from throughout the seed industry including the American Seed Trade Association, seed companies, and service providers.  SIPA welcomes membership from across the seed and agricultural industry, including but not limited to, seed companies, growers, producers, authorized dealers, brokers, suppliers, service providers, universities, as well as state and federal agencies.  
 

SIPA’s membership currently includes ASTA, American Takii, Anti-Infringement Bureau, Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies, Bayer CropScience, Bejo Seeds, Inc., California Leafy Greens Research Board, Cochran Freund & Young, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, Cotton Incorporated, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Pioneer, Enza Zaden USA, Inc., Germains, HM CLAUSE, Husch Blackwell, Independent Professional Seed Association, Limagrain Cereal Seeds, Monsanto, Morrison Foerster, Rijk Zwaan USA, Sakata Seed America, Seminis Vegetable Seed, Shamrock Seeds, Swanson & Bratshun, and Thompson Coburn.

 

The goal of SIPA is to create a unified and consistent voice for education and best practices around intellectual property protection and its value to society.

 

 

the value of seed innovations;

the need for on-going investments in seed research and improvement; and

the critical importance of protecting new discoveries— so plant breeders and companies can continue to focus on developing seed improvements that benefit all.

 

 

SIPA is working to inform the seed industry of the importance of intellectual property protection. All parts of the research, production and distribution chain have a stake in continued investment in research that produces the new seed varieties that contribute to a healthy agricultural industry and abundant food supply. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) support this effort and are important not only for seed companies and academic research institutions, but for all parts of the food production system, especially consumers. The integrity of the innovation pipeline is critical for everyone’s benefit, and this starts with education.

 

Currently, SIPA is developing educational materials for outreach to seed companies, public and private researchers and others, as well as best practices for breeders to consider when evaluating IPR needs.  SIPA will conduct educational workshops, which are open to the seed industry, with topics relevant to leadership, sales and marketing, and research and development personnel.  

 

Two of these workshops are scheduled this year, one in Monterey, California on October 1, 2015 and one in Chicago, Illinois on December 8, 2015.