Plant Varieties Protection

Plant Varieties Protection (Plant Breeders' Rights)

The Plant Varieties Protection Ordinance, Cap. 490 provides plant breeders (or the owners of the varieties) the legal means to apply for proprietary rights over cultivated plant varieties they have bred. The Ordinance applies to all botanical genera and species of vascular plants Varieties of all types of plants (e.g. food crops, vegetables, ornamentals) are eligible for protection.The grant shall be in force for a term of 25 years in the case of trees and vines and of 20 years in every other case.

To fulfil the basic criteria for the making of a grant, the variety must be new, distinct, uniform and stable. In addition, a proposed denomination that complies with the prescribed requirement must also be assigned to the candidate variety. A grantee of Plant Variety Rights shall have the exclusive rights to:

1. produce reproductive material of the protected variety for the purposes of commercial marketing;
2. sell or offer for sale reproductive material of the protected variety;
3. export/import reproductive material of the protected variety; and
4. licence others to carry out the above activities.
   

Interested persons can obtain further information from:

The Office of the Registrar of Plant Variety Rights
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department
5/F., Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices,
303 Cheung Sha Wan Road,
Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Tel 2150 7008 Fax 2736 9904

Or download the application form and guideline from our website.