Molecular marker testing normally provides the initial screen, with field growing trials added where necessary. The two differ in evidentiary weight and in the situations they suit, so in practice both are often needed.
Enforcement runs through administrative action — a report to the agricultural or forestry authority, which can investigate and penalize the production of, and dealing in, infringing seed — and through civil litigation, in which the rights holder can seek an order to stop the infringement together with damages, including punitive damages where the conditions are met. Serious cases can attract criminal liability.
The 2021 amendment to the Seed Law brought two changes in the rights holder's favor. It introduced the essentially derived variety system, which narrows the room to design around a variety right by making only minor improvements. And it extended protection to harvested material, which makes enforcement against downstream distribution possible.
Build a molecular fingerprint record as soon as the right is granted, and put traceable labeling and an authorization system in place across the sales channel.
