October 24, 2024 Copyright ©️ 2024 by goldkeen International Patent & Trademark Joint Office

 

What Are Plant Variety Rights?

Plant variety rights are a form of intellectual property designed to protect plant varieties and the achievements of plant breeders.
Once a breeder develops a new variety and obtains legal protection, they are granted the following rights during the protection period:

  • Exclusive rights (only the breeder can use it)
  • Exclusionary rights (prevent others from producing, reproducing, selling, importing, or exporting the variety without consent)
  • Licensing rights (authorize others to use it and collect royalties to maximize the value of the variety)

Duration of Plant Variety Rights:

  1. For woody plants or perennial vine plants: 25 years from the date of official announcement of approval.
  2. For other types of plants: 20 years.

Infringement Remedies:

  • The right holder may claim compensation for damages caused by intentional or negligent infringement.
  • The right holder may request the destruction or other necessary disposal of infringing products, materials, or tools.
  • If the breeder's right of name attribution is violated, they may request the attribution of their name or other necessary measures to restore their reputation.


Requirements for Plant Variety Rights Applications

To apply for plant variety rights, a variety must meet two formal requirements—novelty and an appropriate denomination—as well as three substantive requirements: distinctness, uniformity, and stability.

a. Denomination: Must not be expressed solely by numbers, must not be identical or similar to the denomination of another variety within the same or closely related species, and must not cause confusion regarding the characteristics of the variety or the identity of the breeder, nor violate public order or good morals.

b. Novelty: Refers to a variety that, prior to the filing date, has not been sold or marketed with the consent of the applicant:

  • Within Taiwan, for more than 1 year;
  • Outside Taiwan, for more than 6 years in the case of woody or perennial vine plants, and more than 4 years for other plant species.

c. Distinctness: Refers to a variety that can be distinguished from any other variety that has been in circulation domestically or internationally or has already obtained plant variety rights, based on one or more identifiable and describable characteristics.

d. Uniformity: Refers to a variety whose characteristics are consistent among individuals, except for predictable natural variation.

e. Stability: Refers to a variety whose key characteristics remain unchanged after repeated propagation or a specific propagation cycle using the designated method.


Required Documents and Examination for Plant Variety Rights Applications

Plant variety rights follow the principle of territoriality. In Taiwan, the Ministry of Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Agency organizes various crop-specific Review Committees composed of domestic experts and scholars, in accordance with the "Regulations on the Organization and Review of the Plant Variety Review Committee." The review process is conducted based on these regulations, and a written decision explaining the reasoning must be issued to the applicant. Generally, the application process—from submission to certification—takes approximately 1 to 3 years.

Required Documents for Application:

  1. One copy of the plant variety rights application form.
  2. Ten copies of the plant variety description.
  3. One CD containing color photos of variety characteristics (three color photos comparing the applied variety and a reference variety, saved in JPG format, including digital copies of the application form, description, and trait survey form).
  4. Application fee: NT$2,000.
  5. If applying for written examination under Article 9, Paragraph 1 of the aforementioned regulations, ten certified copies of the trait testing report must be submitted.


 

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