Plant Variety Protection

In the case of new plant varieties, plant variety protection results in an exclusive right to produce and market propagating material. This right is granted to the breeder upon chargeable application and is valid for a maximum of 25 years (except for trees, vines, hops, and potatoes: 30 years). Entitlement to the granting of plant variety protection currently exists in Austria for all species.

Requirements for the variety:

  • Novelty
  • Registrable variety denomination
  • DUS testing (distinctness, uniformity, stability)

Plant variety protection granted in Austria is valid nationally.

Plant variety protection with European Union scope is regulated by the competent office (CPVO) in Angers, France.

Plant variety protection is established by registration in the Plant Variety Protection Register. This is kept by the Federal Office for Food Safety. Once a year, the current register of protected varieties is published in the Sorten- und Saatgutblatt (Variety and Seed Gazette) (number 3 of the respective year).

Further information on plant variety protection can be found in our catalogue of frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Plant Variety Protection International

Community Plant Variety Rights (CPVO)

Matters of European Plant Variety Protection are regulated by the competent office of the European Union, Community Plant Variety Office (abbreviation CPVO), located in Angers, France. The CPVO's Technical Protocols for DUS testing are valid for both plant variety protection and variety registration. (http://www.cpvo.europa.eu)

Please contact us for information about application procedures and fees (contact).

UPOV (International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants)

UPOV (Union Pour la Protection des Obtentions Végétales, International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants), is an intergovernmental organization with headquartes in Geneva, founded in 1961. Austria joined UPOV in 1994. The aim of UPOV is to protect new plant varieties (agricultural crops, vegetables, fruits, ornamental plants and woody plants) as intellectual property, thus guaranteeing breeders sole ownership of their variety and enabling financially secure breeding and further development in the field of plant varieties.

UPOV provides assistance in establishing and maintaining a functioning system of plant variety protection within individual member states and is involved in promoting international cooperation.

International harmonization of testing procedures from the application for a variety to the testing reports and the botanical variety description is the focus of activities.

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