Reported by Dean Rule
Quito, November 29 - Santiago Cevallos, the General Director of SENADI (the Ecuadorian Intellectual Property Institute), Paulina Mosquera, the National Director of Vegetative Varieties, Edison Troyo from the Vegetative Variety Department of SENADI and Freddy Valarezo, Director of Innovation and Licensing at the ESPE University in Ecuador visited the E.G. Hill Company premises. The purpose of the visit was to explore areas of cooperation between SENADI, ESPE and the E.G. Hill rose breeding operation and to learn more about plant breeding.
During the visit, presentations were given by Dean Rule and Sebastian Recalde on possible areas of cooperation, CIOPORA and its activities and benefits for University breeding programs and new breeding techniques. Additionally, the SENADI representatives could make their own crosses on the greenhouse plants with the idea to follow up on the results. The group was also joined by Dr Maria Paula Grijalva, the staff lawyer of Rosaprima and an expert on plant IP who had spent several months as a Legal Trainee at the CIOPORA Office in 2017. The parties made plans for another meeting and closer cooperation.
Picture: At the E.G. Hill premises, Mr Santiago Cevallos, the General Director of SENADI, is taking a picture of the rose plant cross he's just made.
The current administration of SENADI, which replaced its predecessor IEPI, has been committed to providing proper Plant Variety Protection to plant breeders in Ecuador. Since its launch, SENADI has initiated the reduction of PBR fees and asked Ecuadorian Congress to review the current IP legislation.