Hungarian Intellectual Property Office

Plant Variety Protection

Plant variety protection ensures the legal protection of improved plant varieties (hybrids, lines, clones etc.). Plant variety protection may be granted for varieties of all botanical genera and species.

The owner of the plant variety protection has exclusive right to utilise the plant variety or to give permission for it to others. The owner of the protected plant variety may take legal action against anyone who uses the variety without his authorisation. It is important to emphasise that plant variety protection granted by the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office is not identical with state registration granted by the Central Agricultural Office. The first ensures exclusive rights for its owner, while the second is a precondition for allowing public production of the plant variety and ensures its indication on the national list of varieties. Accordingly, r remuneration for the breeder can only be enforced in the case of plant variety protection.

The territorial validity and the term of plant variety protection are limited, that means, the protection is valid only in the country or international organisation where it was granted. The term of plant variety protection is 25 years and in the case of vines and trees 30 years from the date of the grant of protection.

Plant variety protection valid in Hungary can be obtained by filing a national application or - for the territory of the European Union - by filing an application for a Community plant variety right if the plant variety meets the legal requirements. In other words the plant variety has to be new, distinguishable, uniform, stable and has to have a variety denomination suitable for identification.

The application for national plant variety protection can be filed with the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office, while the application for a Community plant variety right can be submitted directly in the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO).

Protection is established as a result of the granting procedure under the competency of the relevant authority. In the procedure for obtaining plant variety protection a patent attorney or an attorney-at-law can be appointed as representative.

In the case of legal disputes arisen within Hungary in connection with industrial property, the Body of Experts on Industrial Property attached to the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office is competent to give expert opinions, on commission or at the request of the court.

After the granting of plant variety protection, the relevant documents are accessible to anyone.