While varietal IP has become central to value creation across countries, partners and seasons, the way risk is understood and managed has not evolved at the same pace, creating economic loss for IP holders and slowing innovation. That gap is what led Greenstone (www.greenstn.com) to build Argus (www.360argus.com), a web-based, user- and variety-specific risk management platform for plant breeders, IP holders, and licensees. It provides a clear, dynamic risk profile per variety and highlights where exposure is highest worldwide across IP registration, propagation/seed multiplication, production, marketing, and contracts. Rather than adding more data, the aim is to bring fragmented legal, commercial, and operational signals into a single, practical view with clear next steps.
© 360 Argus
Argus grew out of Greenstone's experience working across the varietal value chain, where legal, commercial, and operational teams often see different parts of the same risk but rarely share a common framework.
Argus combines reliable public data, trusted third-party datasets, and proprietary intelligence, supported by AI, to surface patterns and priorities that are often missed until problems materialise. The focus is proactive prevention and better allocation of resources, rather than purely reactive enforcement.
"The Argus platform asks users for key information about a variety and its seasonality, in order to assess when and where risk is highest," explains Tomer Biran from Greenstone. "Users will see a dashboard that brings their variety portfolio and risk profile together, allowing them to review exposure month by month across different risk categories. Argus helps users understand where to focus their efforts and resources, giving them the opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive, while staying focused on safeguarding innovation."
Where risk indicators emerge, users can initiate proportionate next steps, from basic verification and market checks to more formal audit-type reviews, drawing on relevant local expertise where appropriate.
© 360 Argus
"This information can help users build an evidence-based picture when dealing with potential infringement, whether that leads to discussions around retrospective royalties or, where necessary, a legally sound case," Biran adds. "At the moment, while some organisations address these issues internally or through industry initiatives, there is, to our best knowledge, no coordinated, publicly available operational system that brings these risks together into a single, practical solution."
"To make a real difference, drawing on first-hand experience, we want this tool to be available and affordable to both larger and smaller IP holders, so we hope to devise a plan where it makes accessibility a priority. We were recently awarded a competitive innovation grant for start-ups after an external evaluation, which is helping accelerate the next phase of development. Argus is currently in a closed MVP beta with a small group of industry participants, and early feedback has been strong around visibility, decision-making, and internal alignment. Argus is already triggering interest from industry leaders and government institutions involved in varietal IP registration and administration."
As varietal IP is commercialised across more territories, partners, and seasons, tools that help rights holders see risk earlier and respond in a targeted, cost-conscious way may prove just as important as the legal frameworks designed to protect innovation.
For more information:
Tomer Biran
360 Argus
[email protected]
