GEVES alongside the CPVO at the IPM trade fair: for the protection of ornamental varieties through PVR
The IPM trade fair, which took place in Essen, Germany, from 27 to 30 January, is the world’s leading horticultural trade fair. The CPVO was present with a stand attended by experts from GEVES and four other European examination offices. GEVES conducts DUS (Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability) tests in the field or in greenhouses at its Brion and Cavaillon units. These tests are essential for the issuance of a Plant Variety Right (PVR) certificate by the CPVO, INOV or various Plant Variety Protection Services for ornamental species.
This PVR is an intellectual property right and protects breeders, the creators of new varieties.
This protection recognises the creator’s contribution and the value of obtaining it. The resulting rights remunerate their work, enabling them to continue their research, as plant breeding is often a long and costly process.
The breeder may therefore apply for protection of their variety, in the same way as for other intellectual creations.
The PVR allows its holder to:
- to exploit exclusively the protected variety for 25 or 30 years, depending on the species. Their authorisation is then required to produce or reproduce, package for production or reproduction, offer for sale, sell or market, export or import propagating material of the protected variety.
- to remunerate research work, he receives a royalty paid by anyone who produces and markets the protected variety.
This exclusivity is counterbalanced by a few exceptions. The holder’s authorisation is not required for:
- Acts performed privately for non-professional or non-commercial purposes. This is referred to as the amateur gardener exemption,
- Acts performed on an experimental basis (research laboratory),
- Actions taken to develop new varieties are exempt from the breeder’s exemption. (However, be mindful of dependencies),
- The use of the protected variety by farmers on their own farms is referred to as the farmer’s exemption.
All plant genera and species are protectable.
In France, the PVR is issued by INOV, the French National Office for Plant Breeders’ Rights.
Depending on their market objectives, breeders may also choose protection covering the entire territory of the European Union. In this case, they must apply to the CPVO, the Community Plant Variety Office. This is a decentralised agency of the European Union, created in 1995 and based in Angers since 1997.
To obtain PVR at the French and/or European level, breeders of new varieties submit an application to INOV or the CPVO with a partial description of the new variety they wish to protect, accompanied by a sample of plant material representative of the candidate variety. Depending on the species, INOV or CPVO then entrust the technical examination to authorised Examination Offices located in various European Union countries, including GEVES for France.
The technical examination aims to determine that the variety is indeed new. Based on an internationally harmonised protocol or, where applicable, a national protocol, the Examination Office conducts a DUS examination to demonstrate that the candidate variety is indeed:
- Distinct from all known varieties,
- Uniform in its relevant characteristics, subject to the variation that may be expected in view of the particularities of its sexual reproduction or vegetative propagation.
- Stable, its relevant characteristics remaining unchanged following successive reproductions or multiplications, or, in the case of a particular cycle of reproductions or multiplications, at the end of each cycle.
This same DUS examination of new varieties also serves as a basis for decisions regarding marketing authorisation (known as registration in the official French Catalogue and, by extension, the European Catalogue), which is a mandatory procedure for many agricultural, vegetable and fruit species, but does not apply to ornamental species and some agricultural and vegetable species.
All varieties listed in the French Official Catalogue are available on the GEVES website: https://www.geves.fr/catalogue/
