Intellectual property rights in Brazilian floriculture: innovations for the growth and development of the market

Abstract

One of the most important demands imposed by the consumer market on the Brazilian Productive Chain of Flowers and Ornamental Plants is the constant launching of innovations in cultivated species and varieties. Such innovations include the constant introduction of flowers and plants not yet grown and commercialized, both native and adapted exotic species, as well as transformations and changes in size, shape, coloring and conduction patterns and presentation of these goods to the market. Brazil does not have a relevant breeding and cultivation industry. In this sense, it is highly dependent on imports of genetic material developed by countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, the United States of America, Thailand, among others. Recent developments in the sectoral policy to protect the rights of genetic developers, in the development of internationally adequate legislation and in the control of the use and trade of cultivars, has allowed Brazil greater access to new genetic materials of high quality and in line with contemporary international trends in the consumption. This article aims to discuss the state of the art of protection of cultivars in Brazil, pointing to the advances that the legislation and the inspection have allowed in relation to the introduction of genetic innovations, evaluating the impact of these measures on the growth and development of the market of consumption of flowers and ornamental plants in the country.