6.0 INTRODUCTION

The grantee of Plant Breeder's Rights has globally recognised property rights to do, or exclude others from doing, the actions set out in Section 11 of the Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994. This effectively give the grantee the rights to control the sale and reproduction of the protected variety.

If someone else sells the propagating material of the variety without the permission of the grantee, they have breached the grantee's rights and (s)he can take action against the offending party.

One of the purposes of this web site is to provide information to increase understanding about the way Plant Breeder's Rights operates to help reduce the scope for conflict and infringement, and subsequent enforcement.

Some industries are also taking action to reduce infringements of PBR using a range of means such as:

• increasing awareness of PBR
• compliance checks and
• industry supported legal action

As with all forms of intellectual property rights it is the grantee who is responsible for taking action against infringement of their rights.

The following sections provide details on the steps that can be taken by the grantee to enforce their right if infringement has occurred. The Section should be read in conjunction with Section 3.9 on Exemptions and Restrictions to Plant Breeder's Rights.

A Compendium of Key cases from Australia and overseas is also included in the "Useful Links" section for those who want more detail on the limited case law that is available on PBR and plant patents.

Go to Section 6.1 Action for infringement