Web-based tool is designed to give breeders, growers, and suppliers single point of reference on legal, commercial and operational risks
Source: Greenstone
UK-based company Greenstone has launched a web-based platform which it says will enable plant breeders, rights-holders and licensees to protect their varietal portfolios more effectively.
With ownership of intellectual property now a major strategic element of many fresh produce supply chains across the world, the company says the way potential threats to that IP are understood and managed has not evolved at the same pace.
As a result, it warns, rights holders are exposed to potential economic losses, and their rate of innovation can slow.
To address the problem, it has developed Argus. The platform offers users a means to create a “clear and dynamic” risk profile for each variety, and then at any time to identify where in the world their exposure is highest.
That risk could be identified in propagation or seed multiplication, commercial production, marketing, contracts, or IP registration.
Rather than adding more raw data, Argus aims to turn all of these fragmented signals into a single, focused practical view, and then to support users with actionable next steps.
“Varietal IP has globalised faster than the operational tools used to protect it,” explains Greenstone’s founder Tomer Biran. “Argus asks users for key information about a variety and its seasonality, to assess when and where risk is highest. Users will see a dashboard that brings their variety portfolio and risk profile together, allowing them to review exposure month by month across different risk categories.”
He adds: “Argus helps users understand where to focus their efforts and resources, giving them the opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive, while staying focused on safeguarding innovation.”
Shared view
Argus is a product of Greenstone’s firsthand experience of working with varietal value chains. As Biran explains, those supply lines often involve commercial, legal and operational teams which see different parts of the same risk, but rarely share a common workflow.
The answer, he suggests, is to track risks proactively and then to act quickly and proportionately to address them.
With that aim, Argus cross-references a user’s information with a range of reliable datasets. Supported by AI, it then attempts to identify patterns and priorities that might otherwise be missed.
“This can help users build an evidence-based picture when dealing with potential infringement,” Biran adds. “That may lead to discussions around retrospective royalties or, where necessary, a legally sound case. While some organisations address these issues internally or through industry initiatives, there is, to our knowledge, no coordinated, publicly available operational system that brings these risks together into a single, practical solution.”
Argus is currently in a closed MVP beta with a small group of industry participants, who have reportedly been impressed with what it has to offer.
The project was recently awarded a competitive innovation grant, which will support the next phase of its development and expansion.
