Newsletters

Dear readers,

Spring has come and flowers have started to bloom. Many of us will have a short break or celebrate Easter in a few days and there is hope that COVID vaccination will speed up across Europe.

Earlier in March I met with the US Department of Agriculture. We agreed that the CPVO would publish information on the fact that DUS reports from the CPVO and its entrusted Examinations Offices from across the EU can be accepted for all asexually reproduced plant variety applications in the USA. This is a positive development for plant breeders and a good example of the...

Happy New Year!

Dear readers,

I hope you have had a relaxing break over the Christmas period, and I take the opportunity of this newsletter to wish you and your dear ones a happy, healthy and productive 2021!

2020 was a turmoiled year for us all: in Europe and across the world, people’s lives and business activities were disrupted by the COVID pandemic. Some of us even fell sick or lost relatives or friends. I would like to express my deepest sympathy to everyone who suffered directly from the situation and I wish to share a positive message for the year we’ve just...

Hundred years ago was the start of the roaring twenties. Even though the 1920’s started right after the Spanish flu pandemic and ended with the financial crisis, the spirit of the roaring twenties was marked by a general feeling of novelty associated with modernity and a break with tradition. New technologies such as cars, moving pictures and the radio were brought to a large part of the population. Our current decade starts with health and financial challenges, but we are now entering the twenty-twenties with enormous technological potentials in artificial intelligence...

The year 2018 was busy, the CPVO received 3 554 applications, the second highest annual number of applications received in the history of the CPVO (3 626 in 2014) and an increase of 3.9 % compared to 2017. The number of applications for agricultural species increased while the number of applications for ornamentals decreased. At the time of writing more than 27 000 titles are in force. The financial situation is stable. I am happy to announce that in December 2018 the Commission decided to award EUR 8 million to the Invite (INnovations in plant VarIety Testing in Europe) consortium, in...

As you will see in this 14th issue, 2017 represented another year of a high number of applications, objections and appeals. Although the handling of applications and granting of titles is carried out year after year we continuously strive to make the procedure more efficient and user-friendly. In 2017, the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) engaged in what can be described as a new type of activity, namely participating in bids for funds for projects relating to plant varieties. The European Commission has organised a research project under Horizon 2020 (H2020) which...