Growing pains: Michael Stimson of Sun World on future-proofing agriculture

The huge plant breeder uses drones, satellites and robots in order to enforce plant rights the world over. It’s fertile ground for infringers, as the company’s VP of IP and GC tells Sarah Speight.

As vice-president for intellectual property, and general counsel for global plant breeder Sun World, Michael Stimson has plenty to do.

Headquartered in La Quinta, California, Sun World breeds fruit vines and trees which it licences via operations around the world.

To get an idea of its size, the company’s worldwide planted hectares are as big as some US states, according to Stimson.

Little surprise then, that a big company should have equally big aspirations.

Sun World can provide fruit, everywhere, at all times; it has growers in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

The company manages a distribution network, manages its licensees, and signs up growers to produce Sun World fruit around the world.

When Stimson joined the company in March 2022, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that it does things differently from other plant breeders, he tells WIPR.

From an “unusual” approach to plant protection; to raising awareness of infringement in countries that are unfamiliar with IP and IP enforcement; or developing smart new tech to adapt to climate change, Sun World has its eyes fixed firmly on the future, according to Stimson.

Stimson’s IP remit includes managing litigation, licensing technologies for its R&D, and handling partnership agreements with universities and private biotech companies.

But “there’s so much more involved than IP in a company like Sun World”, he says, citing legal HR duties such as representations against debtors in bankruptcy, real estate transactions, immigration of staff, and other general counsel tasks.