The Japanese people have developed a variety of highly valued plant and animal varieties, appreciated worldwide for flavor, size, and more. Much of this took place before or without corporate involvement (agribusiness), but the Japanese government has been trying to…
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Sushi is big business in Japan, of course, and two major rivals on the conveyor belt sushi market are the Kappa Sushi and Hama Zushi (Sushi) chains. Recently, these two restaurants came into the news as a former executive from…
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Ishikawa Prefecture (northeast of Kyoto) took fourteen years to develop extremely highly rated grapes, and is in a tough battle to keep the variety “Ruby Roman” for itself abroad. It took fourteen years to develop the variety, with very large,…
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The Plant Variety Protection and Seed Act (PVPSA), revised at the end of 2020, was the downfall of a man who had been propagating and selling a variety of popular muscat grapes (“Shine Muscat”) that are registered and protected by…
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The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan reported on March 2 that the Cabinet of Prime Minister Suga had approved various proposals to amend intellectual property laws in Japan. The main aims of the revisions would be to…
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* See a further update on this issue from December 3, 2020. As many cases of plant varieties developed in Japan being sold to producers in other countries and exploited have arisen (see on past governmental plans and a case…
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We reported last year that the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) was considering enacting measures against export of genetic resources for wagyu (Japanese breeds of beef cattle). Now, it has made news that such a proposal has…
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Japanese beef cows (wagyu) are world-renowned for the care that goes into the nurture of the animals as they head for the table. Massages, beer drinking, and other practices make the meat exceptionally tender and widely favored. However, after a…
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The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF) has announced plans to fund new integrated efforts to bring more revenue to Japan through protection and exploitation of Japan-registered varieties of plants in other countries. MAFF asserts that many…
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Plant variety registration laws do not feature frequently in intellectual property news feeds, but a recent conflict has arisen in Korean Jeju Island where farmers acquired new varieties of Japanese mikan tangerines without formal licenses. Now that the varieties have…
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