Decree 79/2023/ND-CP guiding the Intellectual Property Law on rights to plant varieties

To update guidance on new points in the 2022 amended Intellectual Property Law on rights to plant varieties, on November 15, 2023, the Government issued Decree 79/2023/ND-CP guiding the intellectual property law on rights to plant varieties. Viet An Law Firm will present the outstanding new features of Decree 79/2023/ND-CP in the article below.

Information of Decree 79/2023/ND-CP guiding the Intellectual Property Law on rights to plant varieties

• Date of issue: November 15, 202
• Effective date: November 15,
• Document type: Decree.
• Issuing agency: Government.
• Signed by: Tran Luu Quang.

New points in Decree 79/2023/ND-CP guiding the Intellectual Property Law on rights to plant varieties

About protected objects

Decree 79/2023/ND-CP supplements regulations on protected subjects that are genetically modified plant varieties. Genetically modified plant varieties are plant varieties with at least one characteristic created by biotechnology that cannot be obtained by traditional breeding methods.

The addition of this regulation is consistent with the development trend of science and technology, and at the same time meets the needs of practical production and trading of plant varieties.

Regarding registration procedures for plant variety protection

Decree 79/2023/ND-CP guiding the Intellectual Property Law on rights to plant varieties has amended and supplemented several regulations on procedures for registration of plant variety protection, specifically as follows:

• Reduce the time limit for examination of applications from 18 months to 12 months.
• Supplement regulations on physical inspection of plant varieties in case of necessity.
• Supplementing regulations on publishing information about plant varieties that have been granted protection titles.

In general, these regulations aim to shorten the registration time for plant variety protection and improve the efficiency of state management of plant variety protection.

Regarding the rights of plant variety owners

Decree 79/2023/ND-CP amends and supplements several regulations on the rights of plant variety owners, specifically as follows:

• Amend regulations on the right to allow or not allow others to use plant varieties.
• Supplementing regulations on the right to transfer rights to plant varieties.
• Supplementing regulations on the right to assign rights to plant varieties.

The amendments and supplements to the regulations mentioned above are to protect the legitimate rights and interests of plant variety owners.

Cases and procedures for amending and supplementing plant variety protection registration applications

Before the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announces its refusal to grant an announcement or decision to grant a Plant Variety Protection title, organizations, and individuals may amend and supplement the plant variety protection registration application in the following cases:

• Spelling errors in the name and address of the registrant, rights representative service organization, plant variety author, or spelling errors in the plant variety name;
• Change the name and address of the registrant, rights representation service organization, and plant variety author based on valid legal documents;
• Change the name of a plant variety at the request of the registrant.

Dossier requesting amendments and supplements to the Plant Variety Protection Registration Application

Organizations and individuals submit applications to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Dossier includes:

• Declaration requesting amendments and supplements as prescribed in Form No. 04 issued with Decree 79/2023/ND-CP;
• A certified copy of the contract for the transfer of registration rights in case of a change of registrant due to transfer of registration rights; or documents proving the change of name, address of the registrant, rights representative service organization, or plant variety author;
• Certified copies of documents proving inheritance and inheritance with confirmation of the registrant, documents proving personal rights between the registrant and the inheritor; Death certificate or death certificate extract of the registrant (if any) in case of change of registrant due to inheritance or succession.

Procedure for requesting amendments and supplements to the Plant Variety Protection Registration Application:

• Within 15 days from the date of receiving the complete dossier, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will evaluate the dossier.
• In case the application is valid, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will issue a Notice of acceptance of amendments and supplements to the application according to the provisions of Form No. 05 issued with Decree 79/2023/ND-CP, and return the application. results for those who register and post notices on the Electronic Information Portal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
• In case the application is invalid, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will respond in writing to the registrant and clearly state the reason.

In case of revocation of the Certificate of practicing services for representing rights to plant varieties

A person who is granted a Certificate to practice plant variety rights representation services will have his/her Certificate revoked in the following cases:

• Termination of activities representing rights to plant varieties;
• No longer meets the conditions to be granted a Practicing Certificate for plant variety rights representation services specified in Clause 66, Article 1 of the Law amending and supplementing several articles of the Intellectual Property Law in 2022;
• Failure to perform rights representation responsibilities specified in Clause 66, Article 1 of the Law amending and supplementing several articles of the Intellectual Property Law 2022 or Clause 2, Article 25 of Decree 79/2023/ND-CP;
• There are serious violations in the activities of representing rights to plant varieties;
• Taking advantage of the name of plant variety rights representative to carry out activities outside the scope of plant variety rights representation services specified in Clause 1, Article 25 of Decree 79/2023/ND-CP;
• Other cases required by law to revoke.

Enforcement

This Decree takes effect from November 15, 2023. The following documents cease to be effective from the effective date of this Decree, specifically:

• Decree No. 88/2010/ND-CP dated August 16, 2010 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of several articles of the Law on Intellectual Property and the Law Amending and Supplementing several Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property intellectual property rights to plant varieties.
• Circular No. 16/2013/TT-BNNPTNT dated February 28, 2013 of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding the protection of rights to plant varieties.
• Circular No. 03/2021/TT-BNNPTNT dated June 22, 2021 amending and supplementing several articles of Circular No. 16/2013/TT-BNNPTNT dated February 28, 2013 of the Minister of Agriculture and Development rural areas on the protection of rights to plant varieties.

Accordingly, plant variety registration applications that have been submitted to competent authorities before November 15, 2023 will continue to comply with the provisions of legal documents in effect at the time of application, except for regulations on amendments. To change or supplement the application for protection registration or DUS testing, the provisions of Decree 79/2023/ND-CP will apply if procedures are arising after November 15, 2023.

All rights and obligations under the protection title are granted under the provisions of law effective before the effective date of this Decree and procedures for maintaining, modifying, transferring use rights, and transferring ownership rights. Rights related to that protection title are applied according to the provisions of this Decree, except for the provisions on grounds for invalidating the protection title, the provisions of legal documents in effect at the time of grant of the protection title shall apply.

Clients who need advice on regulations on intellectual property law, enterprise law, and related amended decrees, please contact Viet An Law Firm for the best support.