b'THE AGRICULTURAL CROP LICENSING PLATFORM EXTENDS TO ORNAMENTAL AND FRUIT CROPSA STANDARD AGREEMENT BUILTare committed to the platform until April FOR FAIR ACCESS AND LEGAL2031. If a member chooses to leave after CERTAINTY the initial commitment period, its pat-The ACLP is open to any company con- ented traits will remain accessible to ducting breeding activities within its ter- other members under ACLP conditions ritory (which includes the countries of thefor an additional five years. Importantly, European Patent Office, as well as Russialicenses concluded under ACLP rules and Ukraine) whether or not the companyremain valid even if one of the parties exits holds patents. Patent-holding members arethe platform. The platform is particularly BY: HLNE GUILLOT, MANAGINGrequired to disclose all patents containedbeneficial for small and medium-sized DIRECTOR OF THE ACLP in their commercial varieties and to grant aenterprises, which gain essential legal commercial license to any ACLP memberand commercial certainty throughout their A fter three years of operation, therequesting access. breeding processes, all for a very reasona-AgriculturalCropLicensingLicensing negotiations are supportedble annual membership fee.Platform (ACLP) has expanded theby a Standard License Agreement, whichThrough its governance and operating scope of crops covered by its activities. Fromhas been agreed upon by all members. Thisprinciples, the ACLP prevents monopolis-the outset, the founding members viewedstandardized framework ensures simplicitytic situations and acts as a trust-building the platform launched in 2023 as an ACLPand cost-efficiency. The royalty fee remainsmechanism. This role is particularly rele-1.0, a framework designed to evolve in linethe only element to be negotiated bilater- vant in the context of ongoing discussions with the needs of its members and of theally and confidentially between licensor andon future EU regulations on new genomic seed sector as a whole. licensee. Should negotiations fail after sixtechniques (NGTs), where licensing plat-months, either party may request arbitra- forms are expected to play an increasingly EXTENDING THE SCOPEtion. In such cases, three independent arbi- important role. BEYOND AGRICULTURAL CROPS trators determine which proposed royaltyThe ACLP Board continues to work on The decision to extend the platforms cropmost closely reflects the market value of thethe future evolution of the platform, with scope to include ornamental, fruit andpatented trait, thereby settling the licensethe next steps expected to be unveiled in forest crops is therefore a natural next step.agreement.the coming weeks. Stay tuned! The expansion was approved by membersFor further information on ACLP without debate, reflecting broad consensusLONG-TERM COMMITMENTmembership, please contact Hlne Guillot on the value of this development for breed- AND A SAFEGUARD FORat helene.guillot@aclp.eu or visit ACLP ers across Europe. SMALLER BREEDERS website: https://aclp.eu/ Now, every breeder in Europe hasFoundingmembers(BASF,Bayer,The PINTO database can be found the possibility to become a member of aCorteva, Elsoms-Ackerman, Europlant,here: https://euroseeds.eu/pinto-patent-in-licensing platform to display patented traitsHZPC, KWS, Limagrain and Syngenta)formation-and-transparency-on-line/ and/or to access patented traits of interest in a facilitated, fair and secure manner, explained Claudia Hallebach, Chair of the ACLP. Both licensing platforms are com-plementary: vegetable breeders can turn to the International Licensing Platform (ILP), while breeders of all other crops can rely on the ACLP.PINTO: THE DISCLOSURE DATABASE POWERING TRANSPARENCYToday, the ACLP brings together approx-imately 95% of patented traits contained in commercial varieties of agricultural crops. The PINTO database, hosted on the Euroseeds website, serves as the cen-tral point of entry for companies to disclose their patented traits. In the near future, the database will be updated to include patented traits present in the newly added crop cate-gories owned by ACLP members.22ISEED WORLD EUROPEISEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE | FEBRUARY 2026'