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Plant Varieties

The Russian Law on Selectional Achievements was passed on August 6, 1993. The Law caused significant changes not only in the way the results of selectional work are used, but also in the system of state testing of selectional achievements. The Russian State Commission on Testing and Protecting Selectional Achievements was charged with the task of carrying out state testing of the protectionability and commercial value of the selectional achievement. It was also called upon to introduce two registers: the State Register of Protected Selectional Achievements and the State Register of Selectional Achievements Permitted for Use. The State Register of Protected Selectional Achievements includes plant varieties that have been patented. The Law stipulates that the holder of a patent has an exclusive right to a variety. Only an individual who has been licensed by the patentee has the right to reproduce seeds, offer them for sale, sell them or market them in any other way; to import or export seeds to and from the Russian Federation, store seeds, and process the seed material. An exception to this rule is the so-called “farmer’s privilege,” according to which a farmer may grow certain seeds for personal use on the territory of a farm for two years. The cultures this applies to are: peas, groats, potatoes, long-stemmed flax, oats, wheat, millet, rye, a rye-wheat hybrid, and hops.

It is necessary to secure permission from the patent owner if the variety obtained inherits to a significant degree the characteristics of the protected variety, does not have obvious differences from it or requires the use of the protected variety several times for producing the seeds. Actions carried out for personal and noncommercial purposes and for experimentation that use the variety as basic material for selection is not deemed an infringement on the rights of the patent owner.

The patentee and licensee sign an agreement that stipulates the volume of the variety to be used (trade areas, expiration date of a license) and payments to be made on the agreement.

The patentee may declare an open license according to which anyone has the right to use the variety if he pays a certain sum to the patentee. In this case the patent maintenance fee is decreased by 50 percent. Anyone may request that he be given a compalsory license. Terms for its issuance are stipulated in Article 20 of the Law.

At present the list of protected selectional achievements comprises all kinds of animals and all sort of plants.

The breeder or subsequent proprietor have the right to submit an application for a patent. If the variety was obtained while fulfilling official duties or on commission from an employer belong to the employer if other provisions are not stipulated in the contact between the employer and the breeder. The application may be submitted on behalf of several applicants. In the case of foreign varieties, the application is submitted through a patent attorney, who has a power of attorney to carry out actions connected with obtaining a patent. The application must be for one variety and include: a request for a patent, specification of the variety to be patented, a payment document certifying that the official fee is paid, and a photo.

A patent for a plant variety is in force for 30 years from the date the patent is registered in the State Register of Protected Selectional Achievements. The term is 35 years for grape and tree varieties.

Registering the variety in the State Register of Protected Selectional Achievements does not give the proprietor the right to market seeds of the variety. This can be done only when the variety is included in the State Register of Selectional Achievements Permitted for Use. The variety is cleared for use if it is tested or if there is an expert evaluation of its commercial value. In addition, the variety can only be included in this Register if it shows clear differentiation, uniformity, and stability. The variety is included in the Register by region (area) or for the entire country.