To discover and develop of a new agricultural plant variety, characterized by specific features (e.g. fertility, frost or water shortage resistance) that distinguish it from other varieties within the same species, there is necessary enormous financial effort and many years of work.

When working on a new variety, it is also essential to have access to plant genetic resources and specialized technologies, such as explant culture or in vitro culture. The breeder must also have appropriate technical and laboratory equipment and employ highly qualified staff.

The creative breeding of a variety usually takes approx. 10 years. An additional period of 2-3 years is required for official research, being a stage of the procedure of variety registration. Only when the variety is registered, it is possible to start the production of commercial seed, which lasts another 2 years.

Growing a variety requires an investment of approximately 1 million EUR. According to the data of Euroseeds organization, breeders invest up to 20% of their annual turnover in the development of new varieties – much more than companies operating in other industries.

In order to recover the expenditure incurred on the work so far on varieties and to be able to invest in the creation of new varieties, the breeder may protect the variety with the protection of the exclusive right (PVR – Plant Variety Rights), which means the protection of his intellectual property.

The PVR protection reserves only to the breeder the right to produce or reproduce (multiplication), condition for the purpose of propagation, offer for sale, sell or otherwise trade, export, import and store the seed material of a given protected variety.

These activities are authorized by a license, which the breeder may grant to other entities for a fee. People or companies who perform them without a licence act illegally and infringe the exclusive right, which is subject to civil and criminal sanctions.

However, both Polish national regulations and Community regulations provide an exception – the so-called agricultural exemption, also known as the farmer’s privilege (FSS). This privilege allows the farmer to use seeds or seed potatoes from his own harvest of a variety protected with the exclusive right to reproduce on his agricultural land. The only condition is the payment of the FSS fee to the appropriate breeder, in the amount of the half of the license fee. If the farmer fails to pay this fee, he will also infringe the PVR.