The question of intellectual property rights has long been fought over across the worlds of art, music and writing, but the announcement that Australian berry breeder Mountain Blue Orchards had won a case against a nursery for illegal pirated production of one of its blueberry varieties marked the latest example of a growing problem in the produce industry. But what made Mountain Blue’s success even more significant was that it marked the first time such a case has been brought – and won – in China by a non-Chinese company.
The ruling in the Kunming Intermediate People's Court in Kunming, Yunnan Province, in favor of the Australian blueberry specialist could well signal a sea change when it comes to the issue of breeders rights worldwide, setting a precedent against illegal propagation of prized genetics.
Mano D Babiolakis, international business manager at Mountain Blue Orchards
For Mano D Babiolakis, international business manager at Mountain Blue Orchards, the success doesn’t just send a signal to other unlawful nurseries, it also protects a legacy of excellence in blueberry breeding which stretches back decades in rural New South Wales, the vast expanse of land covering Australia’s South-East.
Established in 1978 by the Bell family – which continues to own and operate the business to the present day – Mountain Blue is a long-established name of note in the blueberry sector. Indeed, 2025 marks 50 years that owner Ridley Bell has been breeding blueberries, gaining considerable industry recognition in the process.
Awarded the Duke Galletta Award by the North American Blueberry Council for his groundbreaking contributions to blueberry horticultural research in 2023, Bell’s innovative work has transformed blueberry cultivation, yielding new varieties and techniques that benefit the industry globally. This work stretches from the development of several Northern Highbush varieties during Mountain Blue’s infancy through to the introduction of the world-renowned Eureka variety.
“During his journey, Ridley has been involved in breeding some of the most well-known varieties in the world, but without any doubt, his biggest contribution to the industry has been his absolute focus on flavor, especially in the earlier days where the main attribute the industry was interested in was yield,” says Babiolakis.
Today, Mountain Blue varieties – recognized for their outstanding flavour, crunch, size and agronomic attributes – are grown in 40 countries worldwide with more than 7,000 hectares planted. Best-known berries include the Eureka Series – comprising Sunrise, Sunset, Gold, Dawn and Maxx – although Babiolakis says Mountain Blue continues to reinvest a significant portion of its royalty stream every year into creating and selecting better blueberries varieties.
The berries, he continues, are highly-targeted towards growing for specific regions, latitudes, and markets, with the size and depth of the breeding program maintaining Mountain Blue’s position as a leader at the forefront of the industry.
“Mountain Blue has always worked very closely with its licensees, and we work exclusively with the top growers and marketers in the world,” Babiolakis adds.
The path that would eventually lead to the Kunming court’s ruling can be traced back to 2014 when Mountain Blue became the first protected blueberry program to enter China, exclusively licensing its varieties to Driscoll’s for production in the country. “The risk profile was always deemed to be high, but our view was very much that China was an enormous market and that being there was significantly more important than not being there,” admits Babiolakis.
Despite all the Mountain Blue varieties produced by Driscoll’s securing full Plant Breeders’ Right (PBR) protection in China, Babiolakis says he learnt that illegal propagation was happening at several nurseries around 2018-2019.
“We travelled extensively to visit these nurseries and growers to get a better understanding of the best way to deal with the issue and to gain an understanding of how extensive the illegal propagation was,” he says.
“The presence of such illegal propagation of varieties is massively detrimental to the whole industry. It stops innovation. Frustrates the companies that are playing by the rules and paying royalties.”
Mountain Blue, says Babiolakis, has always taken a very serious stand against the illegal use of its varieties, describing it as a non-negotiable where the company will always seek to pursue prosecution of anyone found growing, breeding or propagating its berries illegally.
Of course, pursuing an unlawful grower or breeder in Australia is one thing, but achieving a successful outcome in a country without a previous precedent in blueberries is quite another, and Babiolakis admits that Mountain Blue faced some serious challenges when it came to taking the claim to the Chinese courts.
“There was no established protocol and limited methods in place to prove that the varieties being grown were the same as those being protected,” he says.
A further significant challenge arose with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic with samples unable to be sent out of China to be matched and notarized, making it difficult for Mountain Blue and its team to secure the required evidence.
“This was a massive set-back, but it also forced us to change our thinking,” recalls Babiolakis. “Everything now needed to be done in China and done in a way that would be acceptable to the courts.”
The key to resolving the dilemma, he says, was finding a small, well resourced, legal firm that would work alongside Mountain Blue to carefully take all the steps needed to prove the illegal propagation. “We had in the past worked with the larger, more established law firms; however, we found we were spending a great deal of money with very little to show for it,” reveals Babiolakis.
Even so, he admits the process took a great deal of time, with each step having to be revised to have the confidence that it would be accepted in the courts.
Vindication for Mountain Blue arrived in early December 2024 when the Intermediate People's Court of Kunming ruled in favor of the company in its infringement litigation against an unlicensed nursery in Yunnan Province for the illegal reproduction, propagation, and sale of ‘Ridley 1602’ – Eureka Sunrise (L25).
But even more than simply upholding Mountain Blue’s rights, Babiolakis says the ruling will be extremely important in establishing a protocol in China for enforcing PBR’s for blueberries.
“In China, the investigation process has been extensive – we now have an enormous data bank on which companies and nurseries are propagating our varieties, which companies are growing them, and which companies are selling them,” he says.
“We now have a DNA bank where we can easily match plants and fruit. We then carry out the investigations and notarize the samples which gives us the basis to take the cases to court.”
So what message does Mountain View’s victory transmit not just in China, but globally when it comes to the protection of varieties and genetics?
Babiolakis says several very important factors came to play during the process in China. “China is the fastest growing market for blueberries in the world. The quality standards demanded by the Chinese consumer are high and the focus is hugely favored towards flavor,” he says.
“To ensure this continues, we have to all work together to ensure the protection of PBR protected varieties.”
The victory, Babiolakis continues, is also a sign that both the Chinese Government and provincial leaders are taking the defense of PBR-protected varieties very seriously. “Industry leaders have already had several meetings with key government officials and the importance of protection is very high on the agenda and seen as critical to the continued growth of the blueberry industry in China,” he says.
A second important occurrence has been the establishment of a new Blueberry Committee under the auspices of the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-products (CFNA).
The committee, which features 20 members drawn from all of China’s major growers, sellers and nurseries, is chaired by the president and chief executive of Joy Wing Mau, Mr Jason Zhang, with Driscoll’s global vice-president and general manager of Asia, Mr Jae Moon Chun, in place as its vice chair. It's establishment, says Babiolakis, marks a critical step towards promoting the industry, but importantly, stamping out illegal activity in China.
“One of the key commitments by the committee is to comply with relevant laws and regulations around PBR’s for blueberry varieties,” he explains. “The second major commitment is for all signatories and members of the committee, not to produce, reproduce, process, promise to sell, sell, import, or export the breeding materials of licensed varieties.”
Members, Babiolakis says, have also pledged to actively cooperate with officials to crack down on and investigate violations. “All members have signed and committed to these initiatives, and I think that this will be one of the most important factors going forward for the future long-term success of the blueberry industry in China,” he adds.
More widely, Babiolakis says the ruling stands as an important victory for the blueberry industry and growers – large and small – who respect and value innovation. “The industry collectively improves, grows and expands because better varieties continue to come to the market,” he says.
“Consumers have a better and more consistent experience and with that consumption grows. If varieties cannot be protected, the incentive for breeders and companies to continue to invest and promote the best varieties is seriously affected.”
Babiolakis argues that the more initiatives like the Blueberry Committee in China become serious forces for the industry, the better it is for all players in the value chain.
As well as continuing to fully support the committee, he says Mountain Blue will continue with its commitment to grow as a business in China, partnering with both Driscoll’s China and the Hortifrut Partnership (comprising Hortifrut, Joyvio and Joy Wing Mau) to exclusively grow its varieties. Mountain Blue blueberries will also be exclusively sold within the country under the Driscoll’s brand or via approved marketers with a distinctive ‘MBO’ trademark.
But while the case is unlikely to be the last of its kind for Mountain Blue and other berry breeders, its industry-setting precedent could well mean they are likely to be fewer. “The more that growers, marketers and sellers become aware that there is a huge downside to operating illegally, the better it is for the entire fresh produce industry,” Babiolakis adds.
31.01.2025
IBO Interviews
