Biological protection is available through hybrids. For crops where hybrid vigor is economic, breeders put genetic advances into hybrid parent lines, which are crossed to produce commercial seed. Protecting intellectual property rights in hybrids can be achieved by maintaining physical control of parent lines. Unfortunately, some developing countries insist that companies give samples of parent lines for any hybrid seed they want to sell. Companies fear samples may be used in public research or even given to other companies.
Legal protection comes with implementation of laws that allow registration of variety ownership.
In most countries, patent laws cannot be used to establish ownership of varieties. Currently, most developed countries and a growing minority of developing countries have laws that protect breeders' rights. UPOV is an international treaty organization within the UN system. Since seed imports can introduce new pests and diseases, most governments have detailed phytosanitary rules to control seed imports. Also, many governments set import quotas and other non-tariff barriers, often to protect domestic seed industries.