• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Organic Seed Alliance

Advancing ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world

  • News
  • Programs
    • Research
    • Education
    • Advocacy
  • Publications
    • All Publications
    • How-to Guides
    • Reports
    • Webinars
    • Worksheets & Record-keeping
    • Conference Proceedings
  • Resources
    • 2023 Policy Platform for Seed
    • State of Organic Seed
    • Organic Seed Producers & Intern Host Farm Directory
    • Variety Trial Tool
    • Seed Patent Watch
    • Seed Internship Program & Organic Seed Production Online Course
    • Seed Economics Toolkit
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Organic Seed Growers Conference
    • COVID-19 Protocols
  • Media
  • About
    • Staff Directory
    • Board & Advisors
    • Our Story
    • Our Values
    • Our Alliance
    • Commitment to Racial Equity
    • Business Partners
    • Annual Report
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
  • Give

Seed Policy · September 21, 2022

OSA Testifies at USDA Hearing on Competition and Intellectual Property Rights

OSA Advocacy Director Kiki Hubbard testifies to the USDA on seed competition and intellectual property rights

OSA’s Kiki Hubbard testified at the USDA’s hearing on seed competition and intellectual property rights (IPR) on August 24, 2022. The public listening session is part of the department’s ongoing inquiry into competition concerns in the seed trade and the role that IPR plays. As OSA shared at the event:

We know that seed is unique from other agricultural input markets. As a living, natural resource seed represents generations of natural evolution both alongside and in absence of human intervention. I want to inject a missing point from what I’ve heard today which is that grower decisions pertaining to seed are not only economical – at times these decisions are also ethical and cultural. And it’s the cultural heritage of our seed supply that makes ownership claims that much more fraught when considering our nation’s history of appropriation, not to mention the original intent of IP laws, which was to foster innovation, not to monopolize entire markets. 

Of all the IP tools associated with seed, we are most concerned about the immediate and long-term impacts of utility patents on plant varieties and genetic traits. These patents have disrupted the balance of power in agriculture by effectively tipping that power toward IP owner rights and away from the public interest.

Click on the image below to watch Kiki’s testimony and to hear our ideas for actionable solutions (her testimony begins at minute mark 48:25). And be sure to read our more detailed written policy comments.

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Categories: Seed Policy

Tags: Consolidation, Intellectual property rights, IPR

Kiki Hubbard

Kristina (Kiki) Hubbard is the director of advocacy and communications for Organic Seed Alliance. She currently leads efforts to promote policies and actions that support organic seed systems, including managing OSA’s State of Organic Seed project.

Latest Tweets

Footer

Advancing ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Copyright © 2023 Organic Seed Alliance · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design