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Registration is Open for August 15-16 CIOPORA Academy in Chicago/St. Charles


All players of the green business are heartily invited to register for the Workshop on IP for Plants that will take place on August 15-16 in St. Charles, IL, west of Chicago.

The event includes a full-day workshop with five modules on IP for plants (Aug 15) and a half-day visit at the Ball's premises in West Chicago (Aug 16). During the visit, the participants will be invited to tour the Ball’s Seed Processing Center, the Seed Distribution Center, and the gardens. The visit is kindly sponsored by Ball and is free of charge.

The Workshop part of the event will include the following modules:

Module 1: The US Utility Patents for vegetatively reproduced plants by Audrey Charles, Patent Agent and Trademark Administrator at Ball Horticultural Company, USA Module 2: Plant Variety Protection for vegetatively reproduced varieties in the USA by Travis Bliss, Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney PC, USA Module 3: UPOV, the Breeder’s Exemption, and U.S. Plant Patent Law by Matthew Chivvis, Partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP, USA Module 4: Patent for plant innovations in the EU – new developments by Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis, Houthoff, The Netherlands Module 5: The European Court of Justice ruling on New Breeding Techniques and its consequences for the horticultural business by Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis, Houthoff, The Netherlands

The registration for the workshop and the tour is open and can be undertaken on the CIOPORA Academy website.


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