With the Northern Hemisphere table grape harvest moving towards its peak months, Bloom Fresh is sending a signal to infringers of its IP that it will be closely monitoring and acting against any infringement this season.
Formed by the merger of IFG and SNFL, the company owns and manages the genetics from both breeding programmes and holds rights over varieties such as IFG Ten (Sweet Globe™), IFG Seven (Cotton Candy™), IFG Six (Sweet Sapphire™), Sheegene 20 (Allison™), and Sheegene 2 (Timpson™).
"Innovation can only thrive if we protect it," said Josep Estiarte, CEO of Bloom Fresh. "We will not hesitate to take action against unauthorised growers and traders infringing our IP rights."
The company warns that unauthorised fruit undermines legitimate growers and disrupts market stability, and risks serious quality issues.
© Bloom Fresh
"Fruit grown by authorised growers benefits from our input and support at every stage of production, ensuring it meets the highest quality standards," said Paul Farmer, quality & innovation director. "Unauthorised production puts consistency at risk and can damage consumer trust in premium table grapes."
"We have a dedicated enforcement team that monitors and investigates global supply chains for infringements, attacking infringers from all angles and channels, including through customs, courts, administrative actions, and criminal and police operations and raids", said Alanna Rennie, chief legal officer. "Last season, we secured landmark wins, including the removal of hundreds of hectares of infringing vines in Peru and Brazil, our biggest ever IP victory in China, and some important successes over serial offenders in Italy, resulting in the removal of the vines and compensation payments from the infringers. We will soon launch our customs enforcement program in Europe, where we will be working with the border authorities to identify and seize infringing material at the European borders."
"We also work collaboratively with the Breeders Alliance, an alliance of table grape breeders around the world, with whom we share intel on infringements and pool resources to identify and target big infringers," added Rennie. "One recent project through the Alliance has been setting up a DNA lab in Egypt where we can rapidly test and identify infringements and cooperating with local authorities to identify and prevent this material from leaving the country. We launched the lab this year and are already seeing results with Egypt's Central Administration of Plant Quarantine having already suspended the export codes for companies found with material infringing Breeders' Alliance members' rights."
Bloom Fresh is calling on all industry stakeholders — including growers, marketers, importers, exporters, and retailers — to support its efforts by reporting any suspicious or unauthorised fruit in the market.
"If you see suspicious fruit or poor-quality product that you believe may be unauthorised or that does not meet our minimum standards, please report it," said Estiarte. Reports can be sent to [email protected].
For more information:
Marie-Anne de Bejarry
Bloom Fresh
[email protected]
https://bloomfreshglobal.com/
