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.