Legal terms agree to go to trial
Nadorcott infringement matter postponed
Statements under oath by a representative of EUROSEMILLAS that “no fruit from the Tango trees will be produced until, at the earliest, 2017” and the continued undertaking by EUROSEMILLAS to keep all records of all the licensed plantings of Tango in South Africa, leaves the NCP and Citrogold to focus on the final determination of the status of the Tango as being indistinct from the Nadorcott, alternatively an Essentially Derived Variety of the Nadorcott.
This will now be determined in the concurrent action procedure brought on 3 October 2014 by NADOR COTT PROTECTION SARL (NCP) & CITROGOLD (PTY) LTD against EUROSEMILLAS, STARGROW & OTHERS (CASE NUMBER: 17606/14) and which is estimated will be heard later this year or early next year.
In Spain, the NADOR COTT PROTECTION SARL (NCP) re-enrolled the case in the Valencia courts against EUROSEMILLAS to show that the Tango is at the very least an Essentially Derived Variety of the Nadorcott. In addition both the NCP and the Club de Variedades Vegetales Protegidas (CVVP), the latter being responsible for the management, protection, inspection, certification and defence of commercial operating rights of the Nadorcott in Spain, have lodged appeals at the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) against the decision to award a Plant Breeders Right by the CPVO to Tango under the denomination Tang Gold.
With the legal matter in South Africa still not settled yet, and the appeals and court cases under way in Europe, Citrogold still advises growers to take a cautionary approach and to wait for an outcome of the legal proceedings that will determine if Tango is essentially derived from Nadorcott before making any costly long-term planting decisions.
To inform South African growers on matters related to the legal matter before the Western Cape Division of the High Court in Cape Town, Citrogold has created a web page with content related to this matter. Citrogold will keep this page updated with developments on these matters in Spain and South Africa.
This web page can be accessed at https://citrogoldblog.wordpress.com/
About NCP
NADOR COTT PROTECTION S.Á. R.L. (NCP) is a limited company with registered office in Saint Rapháel, France. The NCP are the owners of the Nadorcott citrus variety with registered Plant Breeders Right ZA2004/3008 in South Africa.
About Citrogold
Citrogold (Pty) Ltd, is a cultivar management company creating, identifying and implementing intellectual property in South Africa with a focus on citrus. Citrogold is the appointed agent for the Nadorcott and has been managing the variety in South Africa.
About Club de Variedades Vegetales Protegidas (CVVP)
The CVVP is a non-profit-making association, incorporated on 12th December 2008 in Valencia, whose purposes include (i) representing the interests of the owners of plant varieties or rights for exploitation of plant varieties; (ii) the management, protection, inspection, certification and defence of commercial operating rights over plant varieties; and (iii) the defence of its members’ interests against the illegal exploitation of varieties. The CVVP has the entire Spanish territory as its sphere of action.