The effects of intellectual property rights on Turkish seed industry

In addition to the uncertainty in the scope of patent rights on biological material, patent rights can be extended to every material in which the invention is included, and they are valid as long as the genetic information embedded in the plant continues to its function. These situations both nullify the rule that plant varieties cannot be patented, and restrict the genetic material pool that the breeders can use in their researches. As a result of the increasing number of patents on plant-related innovations and the overlap between patent law and breeders' rights how to apply the breeder's exception in patent systems is becoming increasingly importance. As for Turkey, the breeder's exemption was not regulated in the repealed Decree Law No. 551 nor subsequently in the Industrial Property Law (SMK). The aim of this thesis is to reveal the current situation regarding whether there is a need for a breeder's exception in patent protection in SMK from a breeder's point of view, if so, to develop suggestions by examining how it can be applied. In the field study carried out within the framework of this purpose, the qualitative research, case study design was preferred as the research method, and maximum diversity and criterion sampling from purposive sampling methods were used. 93 private, 16 public research institutions and 296 researchers were determined as the target groups. How researchers/breeders define the conditions of access to genetic materials, the technology/technical information used for variety development, how they explain the management of intellectual property rights, and the factors affecting breeding methods and strategies are revealed with the data for the period of 2018-2019 by using content and descriptive analyses. Additionally, considering that the implementation of the other exception rules in the SMK is based on TRIPS Article 30, the limits and scope of the breeder's exception, and thus how the balance of interests can be handled, has been examined within the framework of the three-step test in the mentioned agreement article. Besides the current conditions, it has been concluded that the restriction of access to genetic material may create a bottleneck for breeding activities, therefore, there is a need to regulate for the breeding exception in the Industrial Property Law. February 2023, 271 pages Key Words: intellectual property, plant breeders right, patent right, plant variety right, breeding exception, three step test