- CHAPTER ONE: INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION
- CHAPTER TWO: RIGHTS AND QUALIFICATIONS FOR THEIR REGISTRATION
- CHAPTER THREE: COUNCIL, REGISTRAR ANDBREEDERS'RIGHTS COMMITTEE
- CHAPTER FOUR: REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
- Application for registration of breeders' right
- Additional particulars
- Publication of application
- Opposition to registration
- Registration
- Referral to Court
- Application for amendment in the Register of Rights
- Opposition to registration of amendment
- Decision on amendment in the Register of Rights
- Revocation of breeders' right
- Breeders’ right declared null and void
- Results of a decision to revoke breeders' right or to declare it null and void
- CHAPTER FIVE: DENOMINATIONS OF REGISTERED VARIETIES
- PLANT BREEDERS'RIGHTS LAW (AMEND. NO. 2)5756-1996
- CHAPTER SIX: PROTECTION OF BREEDERS'RIGHT
- Scope of breeders' right
- Exhaustion of breeders' right
- Permitted use of registered variety
- Period of breeders' right
- Weight of registration
- Compulsory pharmaceutical license
- Compulsory agricultural license or revocation of right
- Supplementary provisions
- Transfer of a breeder's right
- Utilisation permitted in consequence of a bona fide
- CHAPTER SEVEN: VARIETY BRED DURING OR IN CONSEQUENCE OFSERVICE
- Notice of breeding of variety
- Variety bred in consequence of service
- Dispute in connection with a breeding of a variety
- Presumption of breeding in service
- Decision of Breeders' Rights Committee
- Duties of State employee
- Duty to make notification remains in effect
- Duty to disclose particulars
- Duty to assist employer
- Duty of secrecy
- CHAPTER EIGHT: INDICATION OF BREEDER
- CHAPTER NINE: INFRINGEMENT OF BREEDE
- Actions for infringement
- Time for filing actions for infringement
- Transfer of burden of proof
- Utilisation of forfeited product
- Invalid registration as defense of infringement
- Relief for infringement
- Compensation where specifications has been amended
- Restriction on the award of compensation for breeders' right partially revoked
- Compensation in the case of a renewed breeder's right
- Declaration of non -infringement
- Powers of Court on refferal to Council
- CHAPTER TEN: FOREIGN APPLICATIONS
- CHAPTER ELEVEN: FEE
- CHAPTER TWELVE: PENALTIES
- CHAPTER THIRTEEN: JURISDICTION, PROCEDURE and PRACTICE
- Appeal
- Proceedings in camera
- Evidence on appeal
- Scientific adviser
- Power to direct amendment of specifications
- Extension of times
- Collection of evidence
- Proceedings in contested case
- Special representation
- Preservation of documents
- Public inspection and receipt of certified extracts
- Delivery of propagating material
- Registration of transfer of rights
- Amendment of records and documents
- Correction of clerical errors
- Corrections on the Registrar's initiative
- Restriction on acceptance of documents in support of breeders' rights
- CHAPTER FOURTEEN: MISCELLANEOUS
(As published in PVP Gazette, Issue No. 86, December 1999)
PLANT BREEDERS'RIGHTS LAW 5733-1973
Definitions (as amended in December 1983 and February 1996)
1. In this Law
"examiner" - a person or institution appointed by the Minister as an examiner of and a advisor on applications and oppositions filed under some or all of the provisions of this Law;
"foreign application" - an application filed by a breeder or by the previous holder in one of the Union states;
"Convention" - the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, 1961, as revised in Geneva in 1972, in 1978 and in 1991;
"variety" - a group of plants within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank which, irrespective of the extent to which conditions for the grant of a breeder s' right have been met, can be – “essentially derived variety" - within its meaning in section 36; “propagating material" - a plant and any part of it, which is intended for cultivation or "this Law" - including regulations under it; "breeder" - a person who bred a new variety within its meaning in section 7, including his successors by process of Law, by transfer or by agreement; "utilisation", for purposes of a variety "development", of a variety - development thereof by means of artificial narrowing or the artificial broadening of genetic variation, the isolation of spontaneous genetic variation through self fertilization, crossing, back crossing or, vegetative isolation or any other method;
"basic characteristics" - one or a combination of characteristics, which are recognizable and can be described, and which differentiate the variety from all varieties of its taxon;
"the Minister" - the Minister of Agriculture; "Breeders' Rights Committee" - the committee appointed under section 18.
Effect (as amended in February 1996)
2. The provisions of this Law shall apply to all botanical species and varieties.
3.(a) Breeders' right in a variety bred in Israel can be registered in the Register of Rights in the breeder's name, on his application.
(b) An Israel citizen, an Israel resident or a resident of a Union state - including a body corporate established by Law or registered in Israel or in a Union state - may apply for the registration of breeders' right in the Register of Rights also in respect of a variety bred outside of Israel.
4. Breeders' right in a variety shall be held. by the person, in whose name they are registered in the Register of Rights and they shall remain valid -subject to the provisions of this Law - as long as the registration exists.
5.(a) A Breeders' Rights Register shall be kept for the registration of breeders' rights (in this
Law: Register of Rights), and in it the following shall be recorded for each variety: Eligibility for registration (as amended in February 1996)
6. A variety is eligible for registration of a breeder's right in the Register of Rights if all the following hold true for it: 7.(a) A new variety is a variety that is clearly different from any other variety known when the application for the registration of breeders' rights is filed (hereafter: determining day). 8. Repealed (Amendment ofFebruary 1996)
9. Where several breeders applied for the registration of breeders' rights to a single variety, the right shall be registered in the name of the person who first lawfully applied for its registration.
CHAPTER THREE: COUNCIL, REGISTRAR AND 10.(a) The Minister shall appoint a Breeders' Rights Council (in this Law: the Council) with nine members, three of them Government representatives and six scientists, researchers, seed growers and variety breeders. 11. These are the Council's functions: 12.(a) Half of the number of the Council's members shall constitute a quorum at its meetings, and it shall suffice that the quorum is present at the opening of the meeting.
(b) The Council's existence, its powers and the validity of its decisions shall not be affected by the fact that a Council member's place is vacated, or by any defect in his appointment or in the continuation of his tenure.
13.(a) Voting in the Council shall be secret, but at the request of a majority of Council members a vote in respect of the subject requested shall be by show of hands. The Registrar and his functions 15.(a) In this Chapter, "application" - any application or opposition under Chapters Four or Ten. Examination of application (as amended in December 1983 and February 1996)
16.(a) The Council shall take any measures it deems necessary in order to examine an application, and it may – 17. Before reaching a decision on an application, the Council shall allow the applicant to testify before it.
18.(a) The Minister of Justice shall appoint a Plant Breeders' Rights Committee; the Committee shall have three members, including a District Court Judge, who shall be the committee chairman, the Registrar and a person with professional training in the field of plant variety breeding, who shall be appointed on the recommendation of the Minister of Agriculture.
(b) The Minister of Justice may make regulations on procedure and fees in proceedings before the Plant Breeders' Rights Committee, as far as they have not been prescribed in this Law.
19. No person shall reveal any information that came to his knowledge in proceedings under this Law, except for purposes of its implementation; a person who argues that something came to his knowledge otherwise than in proceedings under this Law, shall bear the burden of proof.
CHAPTER FOUR: REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
20.(a) An application for the registration of breeders' right in the Register of Rights shall be filed in the manner and on the conditions prescribed in regulations, and it shall include the following: Additional particulars (as amended in December 1983 and February 1996)
21.(a) For the examination of an application in accordance with section 20, the Registrar may demand from the applicant propagating material or arty other material or additional particulars related to the subject of the application.
(b) Where the applicant did not deliver the propagating material or other material or additional particulars demanded by the Registrar - on the conditions, in the manner and at the time prescribed - the Registrar shall reject the application, on condition that the applicant is given thirty days' advance notice and has not delivered the required material and particulars to the Registrar until the end of that period.
Publication of application (as amended in December 1983 and February 1996)
22.(a) Where an application for the registration of breeders' right has been filed and the Registrar has decided to bring it before the Council, the Registrar shall, within sixty days after he made his decision, publish a notice in Reshumot and in a professional journal in the field of agriculture, specifying the following: 23.(a) When a notice according to section 22 has been published, any person may - within ninety days after the notice is published in Reshumot - file a reasoned written opposition of the registration of the right. 24. Where it appears to the Council that a variety has been tested and examined, that the characteristics specified in section 6 apply to it, that all the material and literature relating to the variety, which was duly delivered to the Council, has been examined, and that no opposition that has been filed should be accepted, the Council shall order the Registrar to register breeders' right to the variety in the Register of Rights in the name of the applicant, and when the Registrar has registered the right then he shall publish notice thereof in Reshumot, all subject to the provisions of section 25.
25.(a) Where an opponent alleges, under section 23(b)(1), that his right outweighs the right of the applicant for registration, the Council shall suspend its deliberations and shall refer the opponent to the Court; when it has done so, and when the opponent has brought his action before the Court within the time prescribed to him by the Council, the Council shall make a final decision on the application for registration before it only after proceedings in the said action have been concluded and only in accordance with the judgment given therein. 26.(a) The holder of breeders' right of a certain variety may apply for the amendment of any particular or description of the variety in the Register of Rights , if that is necessary in order to clarify claims by the holder of a breeders' right, or to eliminate error other than a mere clerical error - in the registration in the Register of Rights, on condition that that does not broaden the scope of the claims in the application under section 20, and does not add anything to it that was not essentially mentioned in it originally. 27. Any person may file opposition under section 26 within sixty days from the date of publication in Reshumot on the ground that the amendment does not achieve the purpose for which it was requested.
28. When the Council has decided on an application under section 26, the Registrar shall record the decision in the Register of Rights and shall inform the applicant accordingly, and if the decision is not a refusal, notice thereof shall be published in Reshumot.
29. (a) The Council may on its own initiative or on application by a person with revoke breeders' right to the variety, if it an interest in a registered variety concluded one of the following: 29A.(a) The Council may - at its own initiative or on application by a person with an interest in a registered variety -declare breeders' right to a variety to be null and void, if it concluded one of the following: 30.(a) A decision to revoke breeders' right in a variety or to declare breeders’ right to a variety null and void shall go into effect fifteen days from the date of filing of an appeal against it under section 86; however, where an appeal has been filed, the Court may stay the coming into force of the revocation or attach conditions as it may think fit to the coming into force or the stay. CHAPTER FIVE: DENOMINATIONS OF REGISTERED VARIETIES
31.(a) A denomination of a variety shall not be registered in the Register of Rights if - in respect of agricultural crops of the same species - an identical denomination or an identical or similar description under the Merchandise Marks Ordinance (New Version) 5732-1972 is still registered, and no denomination shall be registered under the said Ordinance in respect of aforesaid crops, if - at any time - an identical or similar denomination of a variety was registered in the Register of Rights. 32. Where the Registrar sees no reason under section 31 for not registering the denomination of the variety proposed by the applicant in his application for the registration of breeders' rights, the Registrar shall approve the proposed denomination and it shall be included in the notice under section 24; where a reason as aforesaid exists, the applicant shall be asked to propose another denomination within the time set prescribed by the Registrar; if the applicant does not propose a denomination for the variety within the said period, the Registrar shall determine the denomination of the variety.
33. A person who deems himself aggrieved by a decision on the determination of the denomination of a variety, may - within one year after the notice under section 24 was published - file with the Registrar a reasoned opposition in writing; the Registrar shall decide the matter and he shall notify the opponent of his decision in writing.
34.(a) When a variety has been given a denomination , such denomination must be used in respect of that variety, whether or not a trade mark was attached to the denomination of the variety. CHAPTER ONE: INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION
"harvested material" - a plant and any part of it, including its fruit, which is not intended for
cultivation or propagation;
propagation, including seeds and tissue cultures;
"registered variety" - a variety in respect of which breeders' rights have been registered;
"Union State" - a foreign state, in respect of which the Registrar announced in Reshumot that,
by virtue of the Convention, it is a member of the Union for the Protection of New Varieties
of Plants;
CHAPTER TWO: RIGHTS AND QUALIFICATIONS FOR THEIR REGISTRATION Breeders' right (as amended in February 1996)
Protection of right
Register of Breeders' Rights
What constitutes a new variety (as amended in February 1996)
Priority
BREEDERS'RIGHTS COMMITTEE
Appointment of the Council and of its committees
Council's functions
Validity of acts
Discussion and voting
14.(a) The Minister shall appoint a Registrar of Breeders' Rights from among the staff members of the Ministry of Agriculture (in this Law: the Registrar). (b) The following are the Registrar's functions: (1) to keep the Register of Rights and to deal with any matter relating to entries therein; (2) to issue certificates and other documents on the registration of breeders' rights in the Register of Rights or on their cancellation; (3) to perform any other function and to exercise any other power prescribed by the Minister under this Law. (c) The Registrar shall deliver reports on his activities to the Council, at times prescribed by it. (d) The Registrar shall participate in Council meetings, to which it invites him, and he may participate in all Council meetings. Filing of application
search for material enabling an examination.
Hearing
Plant Breeders' Rights Committee
Secrecy
Application for registration of breeders' right (as amended in December 1983)
Opposition to registration (as amended in February 1996)
Registration
Referral to Court
Application for amendment in the Register of Rights (as amended in February 1996)
Opposition to registration of amendment (as amended in February 1996)
Decision on amendment in the Register of Rights
Revocation of breeders' right (as amended in February 1996)
Breeders’ right declared null and void (Amendment of February 1996)
Results of a decision to revoke breeders' right or to declare it null and void (as amended in February 1996)
Restrictions on the registration of variety denominations
Approval of variety denomination
Contestation of determination of denomination of variety
Protection of denomination of a variety (as amended in February 1996)