
Rights
Continents
BELARUS
COUNTRY : REPUBLIC OF BELARUS
CAPITAL : MINSK
LANGUAGE : BELARUSIAN & RUSSIAN
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES TO WHICH BELARUS IS SIGNATORY
- Paris Convention for the protection of Industrial Property.
- Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property – TRIPS.
- Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV)
PLANT BREEDERS RIGHTS LEGISLATION:
Plant Breeders Rights in Belarus are protected by:
- Plant Variety Protection Act
- The Patent Regime
BASICS REGARDING PROTECTION OF PLANT BREEDERS RIGHTS:
The Act protects New Plant Varieties which are:
- Novel
- Distinct
- Uniform
- Stable
- Designated by proper denominations
PLANT VARIETIES PROTECTED AS PER PLANT BREEDERS RIGHTS:
Protection accorded by PBR:
- Essentially Derived Varieties
- New Plant Varieties
PLANT VARIETIES NOT PROTECTED AS PER PLANT BREEDERS RIGHTS:
The Act does not protect denominations given to such varieties, if they are :
- Lengthy or very long
- Similar to existing denominations in a member state.
- Likely to cause offence.
- Liable to mislead the identity, origin, characteristics, value of the variety.
- Does not aid in identifying the plant variety.
- Denomination not fulfilling the requirements shall be refused and the applicant to propose another denomination.
ParityPatents Law Firms through its Attorney and Law Firms in Belarus is at hand to help you with PBR protection and registration.
WHO MAY APPLY FOR PLANT BREEDERS RIGHTS:
- Breeders i.e., Creators or Joint Creators of the variety
- Natural or Legal Persons as contracted with by the creator and as mentioned in the application
- Employers
- Successors in title
FILING REQUIREMENTS AS PER PLANT BREEDERS PROTECTION ACT:
Application made for protection under the Act to contain the following requisites:
- Request for grant of plant patent as per form
- Completed technical questionnaire as set out
- Power Of Attorney where application is filed through a patent attorney or agent
- Proof of payment
- Priority details if any
- such other particulars (if any) as required by the authorities.
EXAMINATION PROCESS AND GRANT OF PLANT BREEDERS RIGHTS:
- Upon receipt of the application, it is submitted to a Preliminary and Substantive examination.
- The application is examined for compliance with all the requisites.
- Missing documentation is to be furnished by the applicant and all amendments and corrections to be made within stipulated time period.
- Application is published post preliminary examination
- Substantial examination is then carried out to determine patentability of the variety.
- During substantial examination, the authorities may carry out their own tests, rely on tests carried out by member states or on tests conducted by or on behalf of the applicant, carried out either within or outside of the Republic of Belarus.
- The application is again published after which the patent office shall register the variety and then issue a plant patent certificate.
- This plant patent may be contested and opposed to by 3rd parties throughout the term of its validity.
RIGHTS OF OWNERS AS PER PLANT BREEDERS PROTECTION ACT:
Duration of Registration: 25 yrs. from the date of registration of the plant variety.
Owners of the registered plant variety may undertake:
- Production and Multiplication of the propagating material
- Conditioning the propagating material for the purposes of propagation
- Sale, Market, Export, Import the material
- Assign, Sell, Transfer the material to other parties
- Stock the propagating material for all of the above actsThe Plant Variety Protection holder will have the following rights as well:
Non – Exclusive Licenses: wherein, the applicant may conclude a non-exclusive license with 3rd parties to use the rights in the protected plant variety.
Open Licensing: wherein: -The owner of the plant variety to communicate with the Patent Office by way of official publication or declaration by which he undertakes to grant rights to use the plant variety by way of non-exclusive license. – Interested persons may then conclude a licensing agreement with the plant variety owner. – This form of licensing will carry a reduced maintenance fee of 50%
COMPULSORY LICENCE PROVISIONS AS PER PBR PROTECTION ACT:
Compulsory Licenses: is issued by the authorities 3 yrs. post grant of registration of the plant variety. Compulsory licenses are granted to 3rd parties if it is proved that the plant variety owner has failed to use or insufficiently used the plant variety and has no legitimate reasons to justify the same.
ParityPatents along with specialised Patent Lawyers and Patent Attorneys in Belarus, can assist you comprehensively with PBR Compulsory Licence matters.