The purpose of UPOV is to provide and promote an effective system of plant variety protection, with the aim of encouraging the development of new varieties of plants, for the benefit of society.

Ireland, which is already one of the seventy members of UPOV, is the fourty-ninth member to become bound by the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention. The 1991 Act will enter into force for Ireland on January 8, 2012, one month after the deposit of its instrument of ratification.

The free knowledge-sharing seminars, ‘Building a Business on Your Ideas’, will examine how to exploit business opportunities through Government supports.

Intellectual property – patents, trade marks, designs and copyright – will be a central theme for discussion at the seminars.

The first seminar will be held in Donegal later this month.

The seminars, which will run for nine months in towns and cities across the country, are organised by the Patents Office in co-operation with the Enterprise Europe Network, Enterprise Ireland and the County Enterprise Boards.

Speakers will include experts from the public and private sectors and local entrepreneurs.

Announcing the seminars, Minister Lenihan said: ‘Small businesses are the bedrock of the indigenous economy, employing 700,000 workers out of a total labour force of 1.9 million.

These enterprises account for some 270,000, or 90pc, of all businesses here so it is vital that we support them in every possible way.

The seminars will be important learning workshops for small business-owners, entrepreneurs and inventors who want to scale their businesses or turn their ideas into functioning enterprises.

The Government’s enterprise policy is to promote a pro-business environment and to support businesses through targeted help from the enterprise agencies.

Sharing knowledge and expertise across the regions will strengthen already established businesses and generate new ones.

See patentsoffice.ie for details.