Consistent with Australia being a signatory to the UPOV 1991 Convention the criteria for the granting of protection under Section 43 of the Plant Breeder’s Rights Act 1994 is that the variety: has a breeder; is new, distinct, uniform and stable; has an acceptable name; and that application formalities are completed and relevant fees paid. Membership of UPOV obliges Australia to meet minimum requirements but does not set upper limits, provided there is consistency with the minimum standards.
In addition to the Convention providing an internationally accepted framework for each country to develop its own legislation for Plant Breeder's Rights, UPOV also gives plant breeders in member countries recognition and reciprocity:
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A right of priority once an application has been lodged in one member country with a 12 month period to lodge an application in other member countries with the effective lodgment date being the first one. |
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Applicants from all member countries are treated in the same way as if they were from the country where they are lodging the application. |
As part of this international approach, working groups from member countries develop Technical Guidelines for testing different plant species. Information on UPOV and its activities is available on the web site located at http://www.upov.int. The adopted UPOV Technical Guidelines (TG) are available from the UPOV web site at http://www.upov.int/en/publications/tg-rom/index.html.
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