Growers are becoming increasingly vulnerable in holding commercially sensitive material as competition becomes tough and they are forced to innovate to stay profitable, according to one specialist lawyer.
Sarah Whibley, who heads up the food and drink team at Vertex Law LLP, said growers may need to become “even more guarded” in the current climate.
Vertex deals in advising large food wholesalers and manufacturers, growers and distributors in Kent and negotiating long-term supply arrangements on their behalf.
She told FPJ: “I think growers should perhaps be even more guarded, particularly given the current challenges of growing more for less, without compromising on quality. To do so means businesses will need to innovate and use cutting-edge technology, but they must protect themselves to ensure that others are not able to exploit any intellectual property generated, in terms of varieties or otherwise, by them.
“The importance of clear legal agreements to ensure that valuable information is protected and belongs to those developing it, again, should not be underestimated.”
There are principally four ways of protecting intellectual property rights in plants - plant variety rights, patents, trademarks and the law of confidential information, which is a contractual rather than a registerable right.
The plant variety rights office and seeds division within DEFRA in Cambridge handles such issues within the UK.
Whibley also made a strong call for a groceries adjudicator, expressing fears such a body may not be in place until 2014. She said: “Whilst certain supermarkets have very good reputations in respect of their relationships with their suppliers, a substantial proportion of suppliers, and usually the smaller suppliers, find the relationship to be challenging, at best.
“In my opinion, the supermarkets have too much power and make it very difficult for suppliers to be able to take long-term business decisions, because they will not commit to a commercial contract, which gives the suppliers continuity of supply for a specified period. Instead, the suppliers are left in the dark, never knowing when they might suddenly be delisted or if their margins will suffer because of supermarkets competing for customer loyalty by offering lower prices or special offers.”
Last week, farming minister Jim Paice said he hoped a groceries adjudicator would be in place before the end of 2011.
She added: “The smaller, and particularly the local suppliers, cannot survive on this basis, which was the idea behind the Groceries Supply Code of Practice, which came into force in February 2010.”
No comments yet