Pruihua of New Zealand claims infringement of Apple Plant varieties in Qujing Longwei, Yunnan Province

Yesterday, Shenzhen Eswim Variety Management Co., Ltd. (SVM) issued a statement in both Chinese and English. The statement points directly to the infringement of Longwei Apple in Yunnan. Units and individuals in Yunnan have bred, sold and planted "Prior A280" apple seedlings without permission, infringing upon the new plant variety rights of New Zealand Prehua Co., Ltd., and SVM will pursue the legal liability of the infringer.

According to the staff of the company, Shenzhen Eswim Variety Management Co., Ltd. (SVM), a wholly owned subsidiary of Shennong Variety Management Co., Ltd., New Zealand, is the exclusive license holder of "Privat A280" authorized by New Zealand Prehua Co., Ltd. (Prevar Limited), and Priva is the variety owner of this variety.

International fruit and vegetable reporters learned that around 2010, Prehua and SVM jointly introduced "Prior A280" into the domestic trial to observe characters, and Yunnan is one of the trial sites. In 2020, the two companies decided to formally commercialize the variety, and had never authorized seedlings or planting before.

But recently, SVM found that there are local units and individuals in Yunnan to grow and sell "Puri A280", with an unauthorized planting area of 20, 000 mu, and the fruit of "Prea280" has been sold for 3 years, causing direct economic losses of about 20 million yuan to the company.

According to the statement, the infringement incident described by SVM occurred in Malong District, Qujing City, Yunnan Province. "Prea280" is the local "Longwei" apple that has been grown on a large scale in recent years.

Relevant data show that Malong District, Qujing City, Yunnan Province is rich in apples, with an apple planting area of about 50,000 mu at the end of 2019, which is the "early ripening apple production base" in Yunnan Province. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, Malone began to introduce and grow apples on a large scale. In 1954, the then party secretary of Malong County introduced apple varieties such as Xu, Jin Shuai, Fuji and Guoguang from Shandong, and achieved success. In 1995, Malone introduced Royal Gala and Fujimu No.1 from Japan and New Zealand. In 2013, Malone Apple was selected as a geographical icon product of the Ministry of Agriculture. In 2018, "Malone Apple" was approved by the National Association for the Promotion of Brand Development, with a brand value of 550 million yuan.

| "Longwei" apples grown locally in Malone

In recent years, Malone has introduced 113 varieties from Singapore, Japan, Shandong, Shaanxi and other places to breed. According to public data, "Longga" and "Longwei" apples are "new varieties" cultivated locally by New Zealand varieties in Malone. In 2013, "Longga" and "Longwei" registered new varieties through the Department of Agriculture of Yunnan Province, and won the first and second places in the national apple Shandong tasting meeting, respectively. At present, the two varieties have been planted on a large scale in the local area, and the market price can be as high as 15 yuan per piece, with an average price of more than 10 yuan / kg.

According to SVM, "Longwei Apple is actually introduced by New Zealand Preva Co., Ltd., and the variety is promoted under the trade name 'Sweetie'' in New Zealand." According to reports, "Prea280" is bred by the Royal Institute of Plant and Food of New Zealand and comes from the same breeding program as the famous ®apples and Leqi ®apples. This variety tastes sweet and crisp, precocious, fruit-shaped and highly colored. "PureA280" was granted the right of new plant varieties by the Ministry of Agriculture and villages of China at the end of 2018, and the owner of the variety was Prehua Co., Ltd., New Zealand.

| | Prior A280 "Apple |

At present, Pruihua Co., Ltd. of New Zealand has authorized Shenzhen Eswim Variety Management Co., Ltd. to deal with the incident. The lawyer team formed by the latter has proved to the relevant competent authorities to safeguard the rights of infringing upon the rights of new plant varieties.