When the golden kiwi variety was stolen, Zespri decided to file a lawsuit to prevent the outflow of commercial varieties.

New Zealand Zespri kiwi fruit company surprised the news that the variety was stolen. It is reported that Chinese fruit growers have infringed on the company's variety rights by offering golden round-headed kiwi and gold No. 9 (Gold9) to other Chinese farmers who have not signed a cooperative contract. To this end, Zespri decided at its annual meeting in New Zealand that legal action will be taken against shareholders and farmers who improperly use these varieties.

Golden round head and Golden No. 9 kiwi fruit are new products of Zespri Company in recent years. But in August 2017, it was rumored that Chinese farmers had brought the two commercial varieties to other producing areas for other unauthorized farmers to grow.

Simon Limmer, chief operating officer of Zespri, said: Zespri will no longer sign contracts with these farmers as kiwi fruits, and will refuse to buy fruits from farmers who steal varieties, while requiring farmers to destroy unauthorized kiwi seedlings.

Chinese large agricultural enterprises gradually attach importance to variety rights in order to protect the rights and interests of their new varieties.

Although China is an important overseas market for Zespri, Zespri will still take civil action against farmers who violate the rules, strongly expressing its persistence and position in defending breed rights. The theft is not the only province in China. In at least four Zespri producing areas in China, suspected farmers have planted golden round-headed kiwi fruits without authorization.

Lain Jager, president of Zespri, said: it is not easy to deal with intellectual property rights litigation in the field of crops in China, and there are no similar cases to refer to in the past. Chinese authorities are actively assisting Zespri, which has mastered the history of variety embezzlement, and China is also actively educating farmers about "variety rights".

China's agricultural development is rising rapidly. Large agricultural enterprises are actively studying and developing new varieties. Of course, they will also hope to protect their own seedlings through the right of varieties. There is nothing wrong with the Chinese government's active cooperation with Zespri.

The globalization of agriculture and how to prevent the outflow of commercial varieties is an important management strategy for fruit companies.

Global business strategy allows Zespri to quickly grasp the world's kiwi production capacity, and adjust marketing strategy and production planning at any time. The gold round-headed kiwi fruit, which has been infringed this time, is an important variety of Zespri, and the company has exclusive variety rights for at least 20 years, so it is not easy to become a farmer of Zespri cooperation. Farmers must sign a contract with the company at a cost of US $20,000 per hectare to have the right to grow golden round-headed kiwi fruit, and the actual contract varies from country to country.

China used to be the largest market for Zespri, and the plight of farmers' lack of awareness of variety rights is also an unavoidable issue for Zespri. For a long time, to ensure that kiwi farmers have relatively high economic income and market competitiveness is the concept and operational achievement that Zespri is proud of.

Therefore, Zespri dare not take it lightly in the face of this breed embezzlement. After all, it is the important responsibility of Zespri to protect the rights and interests of its own fruit farmers and prevent the impact of varieties theft on the kiwifruit market.