3 June 2022
J Bruning
Email: <[FYI request #19297 email]>
Dear Sir/Madam
Re: Official Information Act Request (PFR Ref: 0935.2.1.05.22)
Further to your request for information under the Official Information Act 1982 regarding Plant &
Food Research’s protocols on intellectual property and financial returns, I am able to provide
you with the following information.
1. Please supply the protocol for financial return on intellectual property. This might include
through sale of the IP or as leasing and royalty payments.
Plant & Food Research has a
publicly available policy (https://www.plantandfood.com/en-
nz/our-views-on-genetic-modification) on intellectual property on our website. In summary
the Institute aims to manage the intellectual assets, we create through our research activities
to achieve optimal impact for our partners and industries.
We maximise impact by taking a case-by-case to approach to technology transfer. Much of
our research, and therefore intellectual property, is generated through collaboration with
other research institutes or industry organisations. In these situations, Plant & Food
Research will work with these partners to identify the party that is best placed to manage the
intellectual asset such that the technology can be developed to its full potential.
Where intellectual assets are commercialised, and we anticipate that Plant & Food Research
will generate commercial returns, we seek to obtain a fair and equitable share of the
commercial benefits that are obtained from the exploitation of that intellectual asset. Plant &
Food Research does not have a prescribed protocol for determining commercial returns on
intellectual assets and any consideration would be agreed with the commercial partner
through good faith negotiations.
We do not have a revenue sharing policy with Plant & Food Research staff.
Plant & Food Research Auckland
120 Mt Albert Road, Sandringham,
Auckland 1025
Private Bag 92169, Auckland 1142
New Zealand
Tel: +64-9-925-7000, Fax: +64-9-925-7001
Plant & Food Research returns all revenue from commercialisation activities back into the
business. In the last financial year, Plant & Food Research receipted a total of $58 million in
royalty revenues. This revenue was re-invested to support additional research activity.
Examples of how value from our research comes back to New Zealand can be found on our
website, for example,
our case study on the cultivar ‘Zesy002’, marketed as Zespri®
SunGold Kiwifruit.
2. Modern biotech/gene technology returns on investment.
Plant & Food Research makes use of genetic modification only within approved containment
facilities, the ways in which we
view use of genetic modification is on our website. Therefore,
Plant & Food Research has not received any financial returns from intellectual assets that
relate to genetic technologies such as CRISPR-based gene-editing or genetic modifications.
We do not categorise our scientific reports on the basis of whether or not they use genetic
technologies, so are unable to provide this information.
I trust this reply serves to meet your request. You have the right to refer this reply to the
Ombudsman.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Timewell
Communications Manager
The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited
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