Professional plant breeders are scientists that conduct plant breeding by the practical application of genetic principles in order to to develop and improve strains of agricultural and horticultural crops. Plant breeders can adapt “old” crops to new environments and challenges, increase yield, improve resistance to diseases and adverse environmental conditions and enhance nutritional value. In this course we will mainly use this term when referring to professional breeders at research institutions.

Policy makers: are people often in administrative and judiciary seats who draft guidelines or methods that are selected from among alternatives and in the light of given conditions to guide and often determine present and future decisions designed to carry out a chosen course of action. Policy makers in this course will dwell on issues that set out regulations that determine the management and use of agro-biodiversity.

Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) issues are exhibited in the diversity that exists between and within plant species which form the raw materials that farmers and plant breeders depend on to improve crop species. They represent the resource base that is crucial in the feeding of the world population. PGR issues in this course refer to policy issues on the access to, value and use of PGR as a base for food production.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues refer to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. In this course, we refer to inventions related to the improvement of plant varieties through the use of specific information on PGR. PGR issues in this course are the issues that are closely connected to the interpretation or acceptance of existing, or the creation of new PGR.

Freedom to Operate (FtO): A major risk for particularly companies in technology sectors such as biotechnology in which there is extensive patenting, is that the commercialization of a new product or technology may be blocked by a competitor holding a patent over a technology that is incorporated in the new product. In such cases, without prior authorization of the patent owners, the risks of being accused of infringement are high. This is why many companies, prior to launching a new product, and often even prior to initiating a new line of research that may lead to the development of a new product, seek to minimize the risk of infringement by securing their ‘Freedom to Operate’ (FTO), i.e. ensuring that the commercial production, marketing and use of their new product, process or service does not infringe the intellectual property rights of others.