- GENERAL PROVISIONS
- CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION
- SCOPE OF PROTECTION
- APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION AND ITS CONSIDERATION
- AND USE OF THE VARIETY DENOMINATION
- AND NOTATIONS IN THE REGISTER
- TERMINATION OF THE BREEDERS™ RIGHTS
- PROTECTION UNDER PRIVATE LAW
- PENAL PROVISIONS
- MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Legislative Texts 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.
Section 2
Scope of Application
Breeders’ rights may be granted in respect of a plant variety that belongs to a genus or species which, when cultivated in or imported to Finland, may have commercial significance here.
Further provisions shall be issued by decree on the plant genera or species of those plant varieties in respect of which the breeders’ rights may be granted.
* Entry into Force: October 15, 1992 Finnish Title: Laki Kasvinjalostajanoikeudesta Swedish Title: Lag om växtförädlarrätt English translation supplied by the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Legislative Texts
Section 3
Conditions in Respect of the Breeder
Breeders’ rights in a plant variety may be granted to 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 in Respect of the Variety
Breeders’ rights may be granted only to a variety: Section 5
Novelty
Breeders’ rights may not be granted if the cultivation material of the variety has, with the consent of the breeder or his successor in title, been offered for sale or marketed Section 6
Protected Varieties in General
Under the exclusive right of the breeder, no person other than the owner of the variety may, without the authorization of the owner, use the variety for commercial purposes Legislative Texts
Section 7
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.
Section 8
Exploitation of the Variety in Plant Breeding
The authorization of the owner of the variety shall not be required for the exploitation of a protected variety in the breeding of new varieties.
The authorization of the owner of the variety shall be required for the acts referred to in Section 6 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: Legislative Texts Section 12
Period of Priority
If the owner of the variety has previously applied for breeders’ rights in a member State of the Union, the application, if it is filed within twelve months of the filing of the earlier application (the period of priority), shall be deemed 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 a 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.
Legislative Texts
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 the 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 shall arrange for an examination of the plant material of the variety. The examination may be made in part or may be omitted if another official examination has previously been made of the variety.
The applicant snail 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 BREEDERS’ RIGHTS
Section 21
Period of Protection
The breeders’ rights shall be valid from the date on which the register authority has taken its decision on the approval of the variety for registration. The breeders’ rights may be maintained through payment of an annual fee for twenty 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.
Legislative Texts
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 23
License
If the owner of the variety has granted permission to another person to use the registered variety on a professional basis (license), such other person may transfer his right to a third person only if agreed.
If the license belongs to a company, it may be transferred in connection with the transfer of the company, unless otherwise agreed.
Section 24
Compulsory Licenses
If the reproductive or vegetative propagating material of a registered variety is not placed on the market under reasonable conditions and to a sufficient extent in view of the food economy or other public interest, a person who wishes to exploit the variety in Finland on a professional basis may obtain a compulsory license to do so, unless the owner of the variety has an acceptable reason for his actions. The compulsory license shall also include the right to receive a sufficient quantity of reproductive or vegetative propagating material of the variety from the owner of the variety.
A compulsory license may be granted only to a person who is deemed to have the prerequisites for exploiting, in an acceptable manner and under the conditions determined in the compulsory license, the variety that is the subject of the breeders’ rights.
The compulsory license shall not prevent the owner of the variety from himself using his right or from granting a license to the variety.
The compulsory license shall be granted by the court, which shall order to what extent the registered variety may be used and determine the remuneration as well as the other conditions of the compulsory license. The court may, at the request of the owner of the variety, withdraw the compulsory license or determine new conditions if required by essential changes in the circumstances.
Section 25
Notations in the Register
When the breeders’ rights have been transferred to another or when a license has been granted to another, a notation thereof shall be made in the plant variety register if so requested. The same shall apply to a lien on the breeders’ rights. However, the granting of a compulsory license shall always be noted in the register.
If it is shown that the license, lien or compulsory license entered in the register is no longer in force, the notation shall be deleted from the register.
A fee shall be paid for the entry of the notation in the register.
The person who has most recently been entered in the register as the owner of the variety shall be considered the owner of the variety.
Legislative Texts
CHAPTER VII
LAW ON BREEDERS’ RIGHTS of August 21, 1992* Table of Contents CHAPTER I CHAPTER II CHAPTER III CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VII CHAPTER VIII CHAPTER IX CHAPTER X GENERAL PROVISIONS........................................................................... CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION........................................................... SCOPE OF PROTECTION ......................................................................... APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION AND ITS CONSIDERATION................................................................................... PERIOD OF PROTECTION OF THE BREEDERS’ RIGHTS AND USE OF THE VARIETY DENOMINATION........................................... LICENSES, COMPULSORY LICENSES AND NOTATIONS IN THE REGISTER .................................................................................. TERMINATION OF THE BREEDERS’ RIGHTS...................................... PROTECTION UNDER PRIVATE LAW................................................... PENAL PROVISIONS ................................................................................ MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS ............................................................ page 1 1 2 3 5 6 7 7 9 9 CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER II
CONDITIONS FOR PROTECTION
CHAPTER III
SCOPE OF PROTECTION
CHAPTER IV
APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION AND ITS CONSIDERATION
AND USE OF THE VARIETY DENOMINATION
CHAPTER VI
LICENSES, COMPULSORY LICENSES
AND NOTATIONS IN THE REGISTER