Agricultural Products Also Need an "Intellectual Property Strategy" - Thinking About the Beni Princess Leak Allegations - [Reflections #32]

🧠 Reflections #32

Agricultural products also need an "intellectual property strategy"

- Thinking about the Beni Princess leak allegations -

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has indicated its intention to establish a specialized agency to protect and manage breeders' rights.

One of the triggers for this was the issue of the potential leak of seedlings for the high-end citrus "Beni Princess," developed by Ehime Prefecture, to China.

Beni Princess is a brand of citrus that Ehime Prefecture began developing in 2005, registered as a variety in 2022, and only just began full-scale shipments in 2025.
It is the result of approximately 20 years of research and improvement, and is not merely an agricultural product, but a crystallization of regional technology and investment.

However, it has been confirmed that seedlings are being sold on Chinese seed and seedling sales websites under similar names such as "Hong Gongzhu," which is believed to refer to Beni Princess.

Of course, what is important at this stage is not to conclude that a "leak has been confirmed."

It is necessary to gather evidence and confirm whether those seedlings are truly the same variety as Beni Princess, where they leaked from, and who is selling them.

However, if superior varieties developed in Japan are being propagated and sold overseas without permission, this is not merely an issue of a single region's agricultural product.

It is a question of "how to protect Japan's agricultural intellectual property."

What is happening?

New varieties of agricultural products have a system similar to patents for industrial products.
That is the breeder's right based on the Plant Variety Protection and Seed Act.

Those who develop new varieties can have the right to exclusively use that variety by registering it.

However, intellectual property rights basically have effect on a country-by-country basis.

Even if a variety is registered in Japan, that alone does not mean one can naturally claim rights in China, South Korea, or other countries.
To protect them overseas, it is necessary to register the variety in that country, collect evidence based on local laws, issue warnings, and file lawsuits.

There is a major barrier here.

In reality, it is quite difficult for prefectural testing stations, research institutions, individual farmers, and producer groups to fight against rights infringement while dealing with overseas laws, languages, and local business customs.

Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' policy this time is not just about "helping farmers," but about the nation preparing specialized functions to protect Japanese agricultural varieties as intellectual property.

What kind of system are they aiming for?

What is being considered is a specialized agency that would support the protection and utilization of rights overseas on behalf of those who hold breeder's rights.

Specifically, this includes overseas variety registration, local infringement investigations, evidence collection, sending warning letters, handling litigation, and managing legitimate license agreements.

In other words, it is an agricultural version of an intellectual property management agency, and could be called a joint defense organization for protecting agricultural varieties.

What is important here is that this system is not intended solely for "defense."

For varieties with expected demand overseas, it is also possible to consider expanding internationally by concluding legitimate license agreements with trusted operators while managing cultivation areas, sales destinations, brand labeling, and royalties.

If unauthorized cultivation is left unchecked, Japan will lose both export opportunities and licensing revenue.

However, if it can be managed through legitimate contracts, overseas demand can be turned into revenue, and that revenue can be reinvested into the development of the next variety.

In short, this is not a system just for fencing off agricultural products.

It is a system for protecting and utilizing Japan's superior varieties as intellectual property.

Lessons from Shine Muscat

A representative example from the past is "Shine Muscat."

Although Shine Muscat is a high-end grape developed in Japan, it has come to be widely cultivated overseas.
As a result, it is said that the export opportunities and licensing revenue that Japan should have originally received were lost.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries cites Shine Muscat as an example of a major loss due to the overseas outflow of seedlings, amounting to nearly 20 billion yen per year.

The loss referred to here should be viewed not just as a simple decrease in sales, but as the loss of potential licensing fee income that could have been obtained through legitimate license agreements.

In other words, the outflow of agricultural intellectual property is not just a problem for a single production area or a single agricultural product.
It is a problem that can lead to economic losses at the national level.

What this case demonstrates is the reality that once a superior variety flows overseas and is established as a local production area, it is extremely difficult to take it back later.

Fruit trees, in particular, can be propagated if there are seedlings or scions.
Moreover, there is a time lag of several years between the outflow of seedlings and the fruit appearing on the market.

By the time the problem surfaces, large-scale cultivation may already be underway locally.

That is why it is too late to react in a panic after the outflow has occurred.

From the stage of developing a new variety, it is necessary to consider domestic registration, overseas application, seedling management, outflow monitoring, and licensing strategy as a single, integrated process.

What is the issue?

Of course, creating a specialized agency will not solve everything.

First, there are limits to exercising rights overseas.

Even if a variety is registered in Japan, it is difficult to assert rights locally if it has not been registered in the other country.

Furthermore, just because seedlings with similar names are being sold on e-commerce sites does not mean they are definitively the registered Japanese variety.
It is necessary to actually obtain the seedlings, leaves, or fruit and confirm them through variety characteristics or DNA analysis.

However, it is not easy to infiltrate rural areas or sales channels in other countries to collect evidence.

Moreover, if it has already become a major industry locally, there is the question of how far the administration or judiciary of that country will recognize the claims made by the Japanese side.

In that sense, the effectiveness of the system also depends on the legal system and enforcement of the other country.

That is precisely why registration and monitoring overseas must be proactive rather than reactive.

Agricultural products also need an intellectual property strategy.

Amid calls for the protection of domestic agriculture, such systems should be considered more actively.
However, this is not just about "fencing things off to prevent them from leaking overseas."

Japanese agricultural varieties are intellectual property developed over many years.

Protecting their value means protecting researchers and producers, safeguarding regional brands, and supporting the development of future varieties.

On the other hand, for promising varieties, there is also the path of expanding overseas by entering into formal licensing agreements where the Japanese side maintains control.

Protect what needs to be protected.
Expand what needs to be expanded by establishing rules.

Use the revenue from that to reinvest in the next generation of agricultural technology and variety development.

The allegations regarding the leak of the Beni Princess are not just a problem concerning a single citrus variety.

They highlight the need to rethink Japanese agriculture not merely as an industry that "grows and sells," but as an industry that "creates, protects, and utilizes intellectual property."

Agricultural products also need an intellectual property strategy.

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