Yunnan Qujing Longwei apple accused by New Zealand's Prevar of variety infringement

Yesterday, Shenzhen SVM Variety Management Co., Ltd. (SVM) issued a statement in both Chinese and English. The statement directly pointed to Longwei apple in Yunnan as infringing, stating that units and individuals in Yunnan had, without permission, propagated, sold and planted “Prevar A280” apple saplings, infringing the plant variety rights of New Zealand's Prevar Limited, and that SVM would pursue the legal liability of the infringers.

According to a staff member of the company, Shenzhen SVM Variety Management Co., Ltd. (SVM) is a wholly owned subsidiary of New Zealand Shennong Variety Management Co., Ltd., and is the exclusive licensee in China of “Prevar A280” authorized by New Zealand's Prevar Limited, with Prevar Limited being the variety rights holder for this variety.

A reporter from Produce Report learned that around 2010, Prevar Limited and SVM jointly introduced “Prevar A280” into China for trial planting and observation of its traits, and Yunnan was one of the trial planting sites. In 2020, the two companies decided to formally commercialize and promote the variety, and prior to that they had never authorized seedling propagation or planting.

But recently SVM discovered that units and individuals in Yunnan were planting and selling “Prevar A280”, with unauthorized planting area reaching as much as 20,000 mu, and the sale of “Prevar A280” fruit having already gone on for 3 years, causing the company direct economic losses of about 20 million yuan.

According to the statement, the infringement described by SVM occurred in Malong District, Qujing City, Yunnan Province, and “Prevar A280” is the “Longwei” apple that has been planted on a large scale locally in recent years.

Relevant materials show that Malong District, Qujing City, Yunnan Province, is rich in apples, with an apple planting area of about 50,000 mu at the end of 2019, and is Yunnan Province's “early-maturing apple production base”. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Malong began large-scale introduction and planting of apples. In 1954, the then secretary of the Malong County Party Committee introduced apple varieties such as Ralls Janet, Golden Delicious, Fuji and Guoguang from Shandong for trial planting, which succeeded. In 1995, Malong introduced varieties such as Royal Gala and Fujimaki No. 1 from Japan and New Zealand. In 2013, “Malong apple” was selected as a geographical indication product by the Ministry of Agriculture. In 2018, “Malong apple” was reviewed and approved by the National Brand Development Promotion Association, with a brand value of 550 million yuan.

| “Longwei” apples grown locally in Malong

In recent years, Malong has successively introduced 113 varieties from Singapore, Japan, Shandong, Shaanxi and other places for cultivation. Public information shows that “Longga” and “Longwei” apples are “new varieties” developed locally in Malong from New Zealand varieties. In 2013, “Longga” and “Longwei” passed new variety registration by the Yunnan Provincial Department of Agriculture, and won first and second place respectively at the national apple Shandong tasting event. At present, the two varieties have already formed large-scale plantings locally, with the market price reaching as high as 15 yuan each, and the average price above 10 yuan per kg.

According to SVM, “‘Longwei’ apple is actually ‘Prevar A280’ introduced by New Zealand's Prevar Limited, and this variety is promoted in New Zealand under the trade name ‘Sweetie’.” It is reported that “Prevar A280” was bred by the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, and comes from the same breeding program as the famous Envy® apple and Rockit® apple. This variety has a sweet and crisp taste, is early-maturing, has a tall fruit shape, and has extremely high coloring. “Prevar A280” was granted plant variety rights by China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs at the end of 2018, with the variety rights holder being New Zealand's Prevar Limited.

| “Prevar A280” apple

At present, New Zealand's Prevar Limited has authorized Shenzhen SVM Variety Management Co., Ltd. to handle this matter. The lawyer team formed by the latter has already submitted evidence to the relevant competent authorities to defend the plant variety rights against the infringing acts.