In the midst of McKee Voorhees and Sease’s 100th year anniversary and the celebration of its legacy to the Des Moines, Iowa, community, it feels fitting to celebrate the firm’s history with another ever-present Iowa organization: The World Food Prize.
The World Food Prize Foundation was sponsored and formed by businessman and philanthropist John Ruan, Sr., with support from the Governor and State legislature of Iowa. (https://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/about_the_foundation/) The Prize was later relocated to its current home in the Hall of Laureates in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1990. Id.
Today, the Foundation enjoys support from more than 80 companies, foundations, and individuals. Each year, the prize is presented to recognize and celebrate the achievements of individuals from all over the world who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. Id. The award was created by Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, for his work in global agriculture. Id.
MVS is proud to support and further develop the legacy of Dr. Borlaug through its work in spreading the word about the importance of Intellectual Property as it relates to agricultural development and plants. From a number of MVS’s own attorneys and agents attending the annual Norman E. Borlaug Dialogue each year, to hosting a CRISPRcon discussion regarding Intellectual Property in 2018, MVS continues to be at the forefront of advocating for the protection of intellectual property at the intersection agriculture.
MVS was proud to help lead a roundtable discussion during the Ideas Market Place Happy Hour Reception where World food Prize participants were encouraged to attend in October of 2018, during the Borlaug Ruan Dialogue. The roundtable was an informal discussion on topics regarding the future of CRISPR, the future of gene editing technologies and its intersection with agriculture.
Additionally, MVS’s own attorneys have filed several trademarks for the organization over the years. The registered service mark “The World Food Prize” which was published on March 9th, 1993, and has since been renewed as of November 28th, 2023. Other notable registered trademarks the firm has filed include the “Hall of Laureates,” “Borlauger,” “The Borlaug Dialogue,” and “Hunger Fighters.”
This year, McKee, Voorhees and Sease looks forward to hosting “The Seeds of Tomorrow: Protecting Plant Breeder Rights to Feed Tomorrow’s World,” an upcoming side event with the World Food Prize during the Borlaug Dialogue. The event will be held on Wednesday, October 30th, 2024, from 6:30-8:30 am at the Community Choice Convention Center and will feature a group of speakers moderated by MVS’s own Heidi Nebel. The event panel will focus on the critical role of IP in promoting food security.
As a Borlaug Ruan Internship Alumna (Class of 2013), I can attest to the impact of the World Food Prize’s impact on people all over the world, including on young high school students. As a high school junior, I was selected to be a Borlaug Ruan Intern to conduct research for the summer of 2013 at the Asian Vegetable Development and Research Center (AVRDC) in Shanhua, Taiwan. I worked in the department of Virology, where I studied peppers’ resistance to two different types of viruses in an effort to contribute to the research center’s ever growing germplasm collection. It was during my time there as a 16-year-old young student that I learned about the importance of Intellectual Property to the research center’s development.
I even learned that AVRDC had its own IP counsel who often flew in from Singapore to help the same researchers I met that summer file their patents, trademarks, and any other Intellectual Property needs so as to protect their work. It was that very summer in 2013 that I had my own inspiration to pursue Intellectual Property as a career and become a Patent Attorney.
Just over 10 years later, I’m now a Patent Attorney with MVS, a firm that continues to champion Dr. Borlaug’s work through protecting the Intellectual Property rights of scientists fighting for better access to food through nutritional security everywhere.