Dear all,
at the LLD forum a seed saver from Mallorca approached me. They have a traditional tomato variety, where the fruits are stored fresh on the stem for up to 9 months.
A hybrid version then got registered as a variety / trade mark under the traditional name although it did lack the traditional characteristics.
The seed savers asked us for advice/help, but I wouldn’t really know what to tell them. And it is not a patent issue.
I thought I’ll forward you the info in case it is interesting for you or you could help them out.
A paragraph out of the article attached (I didn’t read it all):
“The first attempt happened in 2009 when the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries of the regional Government proposed to promote the local variety through a quality label of Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). The proposal came from a very important fruit and vegetable company that produces a hybrid developed by the companies Hortseed Mediterrani and Fitó, and pretended to include the hybrid in the PGI. This variety lacks the conservation capacity and the organoleptic characteristics of the traditional one, but can be found in local markets and in selling points of large retailers, stringed and labelled as “ramillete” (in Spanish language).
Once the AVL-IB heard about this, they demanded that the hybrid tomato wasn’t sold as Tomàtiga de Ramellet and started to work to register this cultivar as a conservation variety. Finally, it became registered in 20126, being the Institute of Agricultural and Fishing Research of the Balearic Islands and the UIB the conservation entities.”
Best,
Johanna
Mag. Johanna ECKHARDT
Project Coordination
Tel. +43 680 21 26 343
johanna.eckhardt@no-patents-on-seeds.org
NO PATENTS ON SEEDS!
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Von: Associació de Varietats Locals <info@varietatslocals.org>
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 10. November 2022 14:00
An: Johanna Eckhardt <johanna.eckhardt@no-patents-on-seeds.org>
Cc: fulya.batur@kybelesrl.com; Antoni Feliu Pou <sacasapagesa@hotmail.com>; Andreu Adrover Serra <andreuadrover11@gmail.com>
Betreff: Re: Trade mark - tomato Mallorca
Hi,
Thanks for your mail and interest. This is Aina Socies, coordinator of the Associació de Varietats Locals.
Attached you'll find articles and materials in English about the tomàtiga de ramellet. First article deals with the appropriation of the name. Second article is a general view about tomàtiga de ramellet.
Also, this is the Spanish office for trade marks and patents:
Marca nacional/OEMP. https://www.oepm.es/es/index.html
At the following two links you'll be able to see how this company (Agromallorca) has registered a trade mark of the tomato (two brand names: Tomàtiga de ramellet i Tomàtiga de ramellet de Mallorca). On the top of that, the tomato that they commercialise is hybrid (specially distributed at supermarkets).
Tomàtiga de ramellet de Mallorca:
https://www.oepm.es/es/signos_distintivos/resultados_expediente.html?mod=M&exp=2894896&bis=
Tomàtiga de ramellet:
https://www.oepm.es/es/signos_distintivos/resultados_expediente.html?mod=M&exp=2166242&bis=
This is the link where we registered the tomàtiga de ramellet as vegetal material (conservation variety) at the Spanish Office of Vegetal Varieties
Oficina Española de Variedades Vegetales. https://www.mapa.gob.es/es/agricultura/temas/medios-de-produccion/semillas-y-plantas-de-vivero/
Ficha registro tomàtiga de ramellet:
https://www.mapa.gob.es/app/regVar/DetalleVariedad.aspx?id=es&TipoV=C&IDVariedad=20100178
Both varieties (hybrid commercialised by Agromallorca and the genuine) coexist in the market with the same name.
We are now working with the creation of a label of local variety. Nevertheless we are a small association and we do not yet whether we will have support of the local administration (because administration does not want to enter in conflict with this local company).
Please kindly keep us updated,
Aina
Comandes: comandes@varietatslocals.org
Cursos: cursos@varietatslocals.org
Telèfons: 623 250 278 / 693 066 858 / 722 782 536
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Missatge de Johanna Eckhardt <johanna.eckhardt@no-patents-on-seeds.org> del dia ds., 5 de nov. 2022 a les 16:03:
[Antoni, si necesitas una traducción al castellano, dímelo! :-)]
Dear Antoni, dear Fulya,
at the LLD event in Budapest Antoni from Variets Locals in Mallorca told me about a traditional tomato variety that can be stored up to 9 months (!). A company has now the rights to exclusively use the name of this variety (is this a trade mark then?). Antoni was wandering if there is anything that can be done about this.
Fulya, since you know a lot about intellectual property rights in general (and I only about patents) could you possibly give Antoni more info?
Antoni, if you have more info for Fulya, such as the name of the tomato variety and the company who uses the name, that would be helpful!
Best,
Johanna
Mag. Johanna ECKHARDT
Project Coordination
Tel. +43 680 21 26 343
johanna.eckhardt@no-patents-on-seeds.org
NO PATENTS ON SEEDS!
www.facebook.com/nopatentsonseeds
www.twitter.com/nopatentsonseed