Transferring Agricultural Biotechnology: Us Public/Private Sector Perspectives

The handling of agricultural biotechnology intellectual properties by the private and the public sectors is quite different. The private sector looks to new and developing biotechnologies to enhance its position in the field, to move ahead of its competitors and to increase its profit margin. All efforts of the private sector company employees are directed toward these three points. Funding for research and development is primarily from private sector funds under the control of the company and there are no obligations from outside the company on use of the funds or the distribution of biotechnology intellectual property,Handling of agricultural biotechnologies developed in the public sector, in particular in universities, is very different from that of the private sector. In universities the discovery and development of agricultural biotechnologies is secondary in nature, with education of undergraduate and graduate students being the primary goal. In addition, much of the universities' research is supported by state and federal government funds which may have specific requirements for distribution of technologies developed under their support. For example, the traditional release of biotechnologies from Land Grant universities has been to provide new technologies, including new crop varieties, to the public at no cost. However, this is rapidly changing and free distribution is done infrequently now as universities look more towards the commercial development of their new technologies.Methods of protection and distribution of new public-supported and public-developed biotechnologies are reviewed in detail in this chapter along with examples of successful transfers of biotechnologies and some of the problems encountered.