SBW B.V. - general information

General Information

Mission
SBW BV supports innovation within companies that operate in plant breeding, production and micropropagation. The focus of our activities is on stimulating the production and introduction of high quality, new plant varieties. Although we primarily act in the interest of the Dutch horticultural industry, our clients are from many countries and our products reach each and every market.

Independent
SBW was founded in 1976 by several Dutch horticultural growers' organizations. The growers wanted to set up a reliable and independent laboratory with the aim to develop and apply plant-tissue-culture techniques for the needs of the horticultural industry.

For this purpose we have committed ourselves to complete independence. SBW BV is not engaged in commercial trading and it is not involved in plant breeding of its own. All plants in its laboratories are and remain our clients' property. It is the client who decides what we are to do with his plants, to whom his plants may be delivered and on which conditions. SBW BV is the ideal partner for companies engaged in developing new varieties and in need of services concerning plant tissue culture.

Confidential
In accordance with its independent position SBW BV maintains a high standard in confidentiality. Although our services are being used by many leading companies in the horticultural industry, we do not publish a list of our clients and contracts. Only the client is fully informed on the progress in the services and how many of his plants have been delivered to whom. We also perform services on the basis of exclusivity for clients who develop their own tissue-culture technology but who lack the capacity for low-cost implementation on a large scale.

Rights
SBW BV respects all intellectual property rights on plants. By signing a contract with SBW BV the client declares that the plants delivered to SBW BV do not belong to protected varieties of other companies and that the client has the variety owner's permission to take the plants to SBW BV. When we notice that a client does not respect a breeder's rights on a variety in our laboratories, the service will be discontinued immediately and will not be reactivated until the owner of the variety in question has granted his permission. In keeping with this attitude SBW BV cooperates with any judicial investigation referring to this subject.