Nicht erfasste Lizenzgebühren aus PBR‑Sorten (Royalty Leakage)

Definition

Most commercial varieties in Australian broadacre and horticulture markets are protected by Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR), giving breeders exclusive commercial rights over propagating and harvested material and the right to charge royalties.[1][4][8] In cereals, End Point Royalties (EPR) are payable on all production other than seed retained, and royalty collectors rely on grower harvest declarations and grain trader auto‑deductions to reconcile payments.[1] LongReach Plant Breeders explicitly states that it does not have information on all grain sales and therefore requires harvest declarations to ensure royalties are paid on all eligible tonnes, acknowledging that incomplete records at grower level are common.[1] In strawberries and other horticultural crops, royalties are typically charged per runner or plug plant at purchase and are collected by licensed propagators, who must manage non‑propagation agreements and reporting of volumes sold.[2] Across both models, manual record‑keeping, fragmented data between growers, propagators and traders, and reliance on self‑declarations create systematic under‑reporting: any tonne or plant that is sold outside the auto‑deduct or declaration systems results directly in royalty under‑collection. Given that PBR applications alone cost at least AUD 2,300 and breeding programs require 10+ years of investment, even modest leakage rates (2–5% of production volumes) translate into significant revenue loss per protected variety.[1][2][4] In practice, for a protected variety with AUD 1–5 million of annual farm‑gate value and royalty rates of 1–4% of value or a per‑plant fee, a 2–5% under‑reported volume results in roughly AUD 20,000–100,000 of missed royalty income per variety per year; multi‑variety portfolios multiply this loss.

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Horticulture breeders and IP owners in Australia 🇦🇺 waste geschätzt AUD 50.000–250.000 pro Jahr durch nicht abgerechnete PBR‑Lizenzgebühren. Automation of end‑point and per‑plant royalty tracking across growers, propagators and traders closes these leaks and secures due income.

Affected Stakeholders

Züchtungsunternehmen (Plant Breeders), IP‑Inhaber und Sortenlizenzgeber, Royalty Collector / Variety Manager, Hort Innovation‑Projektmanager, Kommerzialisierungspartner (z.B. Australasian Plant Genetics), Finanz- und Controlling‑Leitung, Vertriebs- und Lizenzmanagement

Related Business Risks