Intellectual Property Protection of New Animal Breeds in China: Theoretical Justification, International Comparison, and Institutional Construction.

As vital outcomes of agricultural technological innovation, new animal breeds are not only foundational to rural revitalization but also central to preserving ecological diversity. At present, China lacks a clear and coherent legal framework of protection for new animal breeds, making it difficult to accommodate practical demands posed by modern breeding technologies such as gene editing. The results show that international models for protecting intellectual property in new animal breeds generally fall into three categories: granting patents for animal breeds, granting patents for breeding methods, and establishing sui generis rights for animal breeds. The sui generis protecting model of animal breed rights provides stronger protection and better reflects genetic specificity of such breeds. This research recommends that, on ethical review, stricter oversight of animal welfare and genetic data usage should be implemented to promote responsible innovation. On safety assessment, detailed standards should be developed for food and environmental risk assessment to ensure biodiversity and ecological sustainability. On risk balance evaluation, efforts should be made to ensure effective alignment among animal breed rights, animal welfare, and fair competition in the market, while also striking an appropriate balance of interests between breeders and other stakeholders such as farmers, who act as conservers and providers of germplasm resources.