Plant variety protection – new service offered by JWP

One of the most recent and at the same time most specialized intellectual property right is the exclusive right to plant varieties. In the Polish market, JWP Patent & Trademark Attorneys is one of the few offices providing professional assistance in obtaining and maintaining exclusive rights to plant varieties, as well as in protecting these rights against violations.

New plant varieties are a key element of modern agriculture, horticulture, and silviculture. They ensure better harvest, higher quality and resistance to pests, and are the most cost-effective way to boost production performance and quality. The breeder may apply for an exclusive right to a new plant variety if it is distinct, uniform, stable, and new, and its name complies with the requirements stipulated in legal regulations. This concerns all types and species of plants, including arable, domesticated, vegetable, fruit, and ornamental plants, including varieties of trees and grapevine. Plant variety right is hereditary, transferrable, and tradable.

Obtaining the exclusive right to a plant variety ensures a use monopoly for the entitled person. It includes, among others:

• production and propagation,
• preparation for propagation,
• offering for sale, sale, and other forms of disposal,
• export and import,
• storage.

Once the exclusive right is granted, all the above activities may be performed only with the entitled person’s consent. A breeder with the exclusive right to a variety may, however, grant a license to another person to exercise the right for a charge.

More information (about the possibilities and procedures for obtaining the exclusive right to the protection of plant varieties) can be found at our site www.jwp.pl.