Japan revises law to protect new crop varieties, curb leaks overseas

TOKYO - The Japanese parliament adopted revised legislation Friday to better protect the brand value and intellectual property rights of domestically developed premium crop varieties, following a series of unauthorized outflow of seedlings overseas.

According to the revised Plant Variety Protection and Seed Act, developers can request an injunction to block the unauthorized export of new crop varieties even before the completion of the official registration process with the farm ministry.