- CHAPTER I:GENERAL PROVISIONS
- CHAPTER II:CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION
- CHAPTER III: SCOPE OF PROTECTION
- Section 6 Scope of Protection
- Section 6 a Extent of the plant breeder´s right
- Section 6 b Exceptions to the plant breeder´s right
- Section 6 c Right for a protected variety and obligation concerning the remuneration for this
- Section 6 d Obligation to provide cultivation data on the variety
- Section 6 e Exhaustion of the plant breeder´s right
- Section 7 Ornamental Plants
- CHAPTER IV: APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION AND ITS CONSIDERATION
- Section 9 Register Authority
- Section 10 Application
- Section 11 Variety Denomination
- Section 12 Period of priority
- Section 13 Supplementing the Application
- Section 14 Rejection of the Application
- Section 15 Claim to a Better Right
- Section 16 Transfer of the Application
- Section 17 Publication of the Application
- Section 18 Examination of the variety
- Section 19 Decision on the Application
- Section 20 Registration of the Breeders´ rights
- CHAPTER V PERIOD OF PROTECTION OF THE PLANT BREEDER´S RIGHT AS WELL AS USE ANDCHANGING OF THE VARIETY DENOMINATION
- CHAPTER VI LICENSES, COMPULSORY LICENSES AND NOTATIONS IN THE REGISTER
- CHAPTER VII TERMINATION OF THE BREEDERS´ RIGHTS
- CHAPTER VIII PROTECTION UNDER PRIVATE LAW
- CHAPTER IX PENAL PROVISIONS
- CHAPTER X MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
(As published in PVP Gazette, Issue No. 88, July 2000)
The Act on Plant Breeder´s Right (N:o 789/1992, 21.8.1992) Consolidated Text of the Act on Plant Breeder´s Right
Section 1
Breeders´ Rights
The breeder of a plant variety or the person to whom his right has been transferred (owner of the variety) may, by application for registration, obtain the exclusive right afforded by this Law to exploit the variety.
CHAPTER II: Section 3
Conditions in Respect of the Breeder
Plant breeder´s right to a avriety may be granted to The provisions laid down in paragraph 1 above also concern an applicant of plant breeder´s right who has discovered and developed a plant variety as well as his successor in title.
Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph
(1) breeders´ rights may also be granted in other cases if the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry deems it justified in view of Finnish plant breeding or the import of the plant variety.
Section 4
Conditions for Protection
Plant breeder´s right may only be granted for a variety * Sections 2 and 8 of the Act on Plant Breeder´s Right of August 21 1992 (789/1992) shall be abrogated, section 3, paragraph 1, section 4, point 1, introduction to section 5 and point 1, section 6 and 12, section 18, paragraph 1, section 21, title to chapter 5, section 23, paragraph 1, section 27, paragraph 1 and section 28 shall be amended, and a new paragraph 2 shall be added to section 3, by which the present paragraph 2 becomes paragraph 3, and new sections 6 a-6 e, 22 a, 31 a and 34 a shall be added to the act as follows;
Section 5
Novelty
Plant breeder´s right may not be granted if propagating or harvested material of the variety has been sold or disposed in other way by or with the consent of the breeder for purposes of exploitation of the variety CHAPTER III SCOPE OF PROTECTION Scope of Protection
Other than the owner of the variety may not without the consent of the holder: The acts referred to in paragraph 1 in respect of harvested material, including entire plants and parts of plants, obtained through the unauthorized use of propagating material of the protected variety shall require the authorization of the holder, unless the holder has had reasonable opportunity to exercise his right in the relation to the said propagating material.
Section 6 a
Extent of the plant breeder´s right
The provisions of selection 6 shall also apply in relation to Exceptions to the plant breeder´s right
Plant breeder´s right does not restrict the utilization of the variety Subject to conditions laid down in section 6 c below, farmers are entitled to use seeds of varieties they have produced for sowing on their own farm.
Section 6 c
Right for a protected variety and obligation concerning the remuneration for this
Farmers may against remuneration use the crop of varieties covered by the legal protection referred to in this act for propagation purposes on their own farm, except for hybrids. This right concerns the propagation of the varieties belonging to the following plant species only: oats, barley, rye, wheat, rye-wheat, turnip rape, rape, oil flax, pea, broad bean, potato and buckwheat.
The level of remuneration shall be sensibly lower than the amount charged for the licensed production of propagating material. The level of the equitable remuneration to be paid to the owner may form the object of a contract between the owner and the farmer concerned or organizations representing them. Where such contract has not been concluded or does not apply, the remuneration to be paid shall be 50 % of the amounts charged for the licensed production of propagating material.
Farmers who do not grow plants on an area bigger than 10 ha may use propagation material of a protected variety in a way referred to in paragraph 1 without remuneration. However in the case of cultivation of a protected potato variety a remuneration must be paid if the area under the variety in question is more than 2 ha or in the case of early varieties cultivated under cover more than 1 ha.
Section 6 d
Obligation to provide cultivation data on the variety
Farmers and processors of propagation material are obliged to provide the necessary data to the authorities and the holder of the variety upon request in order to establish the payment obligation.
Section 6 e
Exhaustion of the plant breeder´s right
The plant breeder´s right shall not extend to acts concerning any material of the protected variety or of plants covered by the provisions of section 6 a, which has been sold or otherwise marketed by the owner or with his consent in any of the countries belonging to the European free trade area, unless such acts For the purposes of paragraph 1, material means, in relation to a variety
Ornamental Plants
Breeders´ rights shall also extend to the seedlings of ornamental plants or the parts thereof normally marketed for purposes other than propagation when they are used commercially as propagating material in the production of ornamental plants or cut flowers.
CHAPTER IV
APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION AND ITS CONSIDERATION
Section 9
Register Authority
The register authority is the Plant Variety Board, which shall maintain the plant variety register.
The Plant Variety Board shall be appointed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The Board shall have a chairman, a deputy chairman and at most ten members. Each member shall have an alternate. The Board shall be appointed for a term of three years at a time. Further provisions on the Board shall be laid down by Decree.
Section 10
Application
Applications for breeders´ rights shall be made in writing to the register authority.
The application shall contain a description of how the variety in question differs from other varieties, and a variety denomination. The application shall state the name of the breeder. If a person other than the breeder of the variety applies for the breeders´ rights, such applicant shall demonstrate his right to the variety. The applicant shall state that the variety has not, before the application was filed, been offered for sale or marketed in the manner referred to in Section 5.
The applicant shall pay the application fee.
The date on which the application documents have been furnished to the authority and the application fee has been paid shall be entered as the date of application.
Section 11
Variety Denomination
The variety denomination must enable the variety to be identified. A denomination shall not be accepted for a variety: Section 12
Period of priority
If the owner of the variety has previously applied for plant breeder´s right within the territory of a member of the Association, the application, if it id filed within twelve months of the filing of the earlier application (the period of priority), shall be deemed at the request of the applicant to have been filed in Finland at the same time.
Section 13
Supplementing the Application
If the applicant has not followed the provisions and instructions issued on the filing of the application or if there is another reason why the application cannot be considered, the applicant shall be invited by an interim decision to make a statement or to supplement the application.
If the applicant has not made a statement or supplemented the application to remedy the defect within the specified period, the application shall be rejected. This consequence shall be mentioned in the interim decision.
A rejected application shall be reconsidered if, within one month of the end of the term specified in the interim decision, the applicant so requests or undertakes to supplement the application and, within the same period, pays the reapplication fee.
Section 14
Rejection of the Application
If the application cannot be approved even after the applicant has made a statement or supplemented the application, the application shall be rejected, unless there is cause to issue the applicant a new interim decision.
Section 15
Claim to a Better Right
If a person claims to the register authority that he has a better right to the variety than the applicant and the matter is in doubt, the authority shall invite him in an interim decision to institute an action in court within the period determined by the authority. If the claim is not filed within that period, the claim shall be disregarded in the consideration of the application and that fact shall be mentioned in the interim decision.
If the issue of a better right is under consideration by the court, the consideration of the application may be postponed until the issue has been decided on a final basis.
Section 16
Transfer of the Application
If a person demonstrates to the register authority that he has a better right to the variety than the applicant, the register authority shall transfer the application to his name if he so requests. The person to whom the application is transferred shall pay a new application fee.
Until a decision is finally made on the request for transfer, the application may not be withdrawn, rejected or approved.
Section 17
Publication of the Application
If the application meets the requirements, the register authority shall, through publication of the application, provide the public with an opportunity to file claims regarding application.
Claims regarding the application shall be filed in writing with the register authority within the period determined by it.
Section 18
Examination of the variety
The register authority must make sure that the variety is examined, unless this is considered unnecessary for special reasons.
The applicant shall supply the necessary plant material and the necessary information to the entity carrying out the examination.
The applicant who has requested priority on the basis of an application filed in another country shall have four years from the end of the period of priority to supply the plant material and the necessary data.
Section 19
Decision on the Application
After the period provided for the filing of claims has ended and the necessary examination of the variety has been carried out, the application shall be subjected to continued consideration and the register authority shall decide on the registration of the variety.
The applicant shall be given the opportunity to make a statement on the comments that have been made and the examination that has been carried out.
Section 20
Registration of the Breeders´ rights
After the decision of the register authority referred to in Section 19 is no longer subject to ordinary channels of appeal, the variety shall be entered in the plant variety register. The registration shall be published. The applicant shall be given a certificate of registration.
A decision on the rejection of an application shall be published after it is no longer subject to ordinary channels of appeal.
CHAPTER V PERIOD OF PROTECTION OF THE PLANT BREEDER´S RIGHT AS WELL AS USE AND Section 21 Period of validity
Plant breeder´s right shall be valid from the date on which the register authority has taken its decision on the approval of the variety for registration. The plant breeder´s right may be maintained through payment of an annual fee for 25 years, in the case of potatoes, trees and vines for 30 years, from the beginning of the year following the taking of the decision.
Section 22
Use of the Variety Denomination
When reproductive or vegetative propagating material of a registered plant variety is offered for sale, its registered denomination shall be used even after the period of protection has ended or the breeders´ rights have otherwise ended.
The registered variety denomination or a denomination that is easily confused with it may not be used for a variety belonging to the same species or to a closely related species or for the reproductive or vegetative propagating material of such a variety as long as the variety denomination is registered.
Section 22 a
Canceling and changing the variety denomination
The register authority must cancel the registered denomination of the variety denomination of the variety is prohibited.
The registration authority must notify the owner on the demand concerning canceling the denomination and request the owner to propose another denomination within 30 days from receiving the notice on the demand. If the variety is no longer protected, the register authority may propose a new denomination.
A proposal concerning a new denomination must be examined and published as laid down in the Decree on Plant Breeder´s Rights (907/1992). The new denomination must be registered and published after approval. The earlier name must be cancelled at the same time.
CHAPTER VI
FINLAND
as amended*
on Amendments to the Act on Plant Breeder´s Right
(N:o 238/1999, 5.3.1999)
CHAPTER I:
GENERAL PROVISIONS
CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION
Section 6
CHANGING OF THE VARIETY DENOMINATION
(1) if the denomination of the variety has been registered in violation of this act and the obstacle for the registration still exists; (2) if the holder demands this and shows legal grounds for it; or (3) if the holder or another person presents a decision by a court in which the use of the