FYI in the U.S. you can get a utility patent on any variety. Its not specific to the GMO. Patents differ from regular PVP (plant variety protection) in that they restrict others using it in breeding efforts.

The major difference is varieties are not patentable in the EU but GMO are.

Of course the varieties were intended for countries that do not enforce U.S. or E.U. intellectual property laws anyways. So it was not possible for Monsanto to collect royalties on golden rice in the target market.

That announcement was them trying to put a positive marketing spin on it. "Oh we won't attempt to seek royalties on a product in countries we can't collect royalties in..."

Also last time i checked, golden rice had lower yields than other varieties so it still needs years of breeding to be competitive. And needless to say, the real solution to these nutrition problems is economic development, which won't happen with propietary crops.

Classic tech bro solutions without understanding the real problem.

Yet, malnutrition is prevalent, particularly among children and women. This is not simply because of the absence of an important nutrient or vitamin. It is caused by the “lack of access to sufficient, nutritious and safe food” due to poverty, and changing food production and consumption patterns (p. 27, UN FAO, 2017).

quoted from the grain.org article you postes.