Ornamental crops and arboricultural crops: Plant Breeders' Rights
Steps involved in obtaining Plant Breeders' Rights
Obtaining Dutch or European Plant Breeders' Rights for a new variety of ornamental crop or a new arboricultural crop proceeds in stages:
National Plant Breeders' Rights
To protect the ownership of a variety, breeders can apply for the Plant Breeders' Rights for the variety. As a member state of the UPOV, the Netherlands has a national Plant Breeders' Rights system that is based on the UPOV 1991 Convention. It is possible to apply for Plant Breeders' Rights for all ornamental and arboricultural crops.
If a new variety complies with DUS criteria and has been given an accepted name, the Plant Breeders' Right will be granted. The variety will be listed on the Dutch Register of Varieties.
Naktuinbouw performs tests to establish if a variety conforms to the DUS criteria. This is usually done during one growing cycle. Sometimes two or more growing cycles are necessary. DUS stands for Distinct, Uniform and Stable, which means that the variety is distinct from all other varieties, uniform and stable. DUS testing involves certain costs.
European Plant Breeders' Rights
Alongside national Plant Breeders' Rights there are also community Plant Breeders' Rights that are valid for all of the EU member states The Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) grants these rights. The application forms can be downloaded from the website of the CPVO.
If the variety already has national Plant Breeders' Rights, the CPVO can grant EU Plant Breeders' Rights based on the national report. For a small extra fee this gives the variety Plant Breeders' Rights in the entire EU, on condition that the variety meets the EU demands regarding novelty.
