Following the UK High Court’s conclusion that Asda has not infringed Nador Cott Protection’s plant breeders’ rights on the sale of Tang Gold mandarins, NCP signals desire to fight on
Nador Cott Protection (NCP) has announced that it will be appealing the first instance judgment rendered in the case concerning the sale of Tang Gold mandarins in Asda supermarkets.
In NCP’s view, the Court’s “narrow interpretation” of the UK Act “unduly limits the rights of PBR holders and discourages investment in plant innovation”.
NCP is the holder of a UK Plant Breeder Right (PBR) and a corresponding EU Plant Variety Right (PVR) for the Nadorcott mandarin.
At the High Court, it was decided that Asda and its logistics subsidiary IPL had not infringed UK Plant Breeders’ Rights concerning the sale of Tang Gold mandarins in the chain’s stores.
The judge dismissed the claim of infringement of UK Plant Breeders’ Rights on the basis that the Tang Gold variety of mandarin “was not an essentially derived variety” of NCP’s Nadorcott mandarin.
However, NCP pointed to the statement by the court that its conclusion could have been different if the analysis had been conducted within the framework of other laws, such as the EU Regulation.
The judgement stated that “the concept of a dependent variety represents a narrow extension of the UK plant breeders’ right. It is possible that a different result might obtain in the context of the EU Regulation, due to the different wording of Art.13(6) of the EU Regulation”.
NCP’s Mohamed Benbiga said the group remained “fully committed to pursuing the protection of its rights over the Nadorcott variety”.
