China - Plant Variety Protection
LADAS & PARRY
China has issued new regulations for plant variety protection
which will take effect on October 1, 1997. Protection will be
for 20 years from the date of issue in the case of vines, forest
trees, fruit trees and ornamental trees and 15 years for all other
plants.
To qualify for protection the variety must be novel to the extent
that before the filing of the application, the variety must not
have been sold with the consent of the breeder in China for a
period of more than one year or elsewhere in the world for a period
of six years in the case of vines, forest trees, fruit trees and
ornamental trees or for more than four years in the case of other
plants.
An application for protection requires submission of a description,
a photograph and where priority is claimed a certified copy of
the priority document. The authorities have the power to require
the submission of propagating material from the new plant variety.
The rights of the breeder are limited by a farmer's right permitting
farmers to propagate for their own use propagating material obtained
from the protected variety.