Plant Varieties Act 1997
Part I Plant Varieties
Preliminary
1 Plant breeders’ rights.
2 The Plant Variety Rights Office.
Grant of plant breeders’ rights
3 Grant on application.
4 Conditions for the grant of rights.
5 Rights in relation to application period.
Scope of plant breeders’ rights
6 Protected variety.
7 Dependent varieties.
Exceptions
8 General exceptions.
9 Farm saved seed.
10 Exhaustion of rights.
Duration and transmission of plant breeders’ rights
11 Duration.
12 Transmission.
Remedies for infringement
13 Remedies for infringement.
14 Presumptions in proceedings relating to harvested material.
15 Presumptions in proceedings relating to products made from harvested material.
Duties of holder of plant breeders’ rights
16 Maintenance of protected variety.
17 Compulsory licences.
Naming of protected varieties
18 Selection and registration of names.
19 Duty to use registered name.
20 Improper use of registered name.
Termination and suspension of plant breeders’ rights
21 Nullity.
22 Cancellation.
23 Suspension.
Proceedings before the Controller
24 Right to be heard: general.
25 Right to be heard: applications for compulsory licences.
26 Appeals to the Tribunal.
Discharge of the Controller’s functions
27 Ministerial guidance.
28 Regulations.
29 Fees.
30 Use of outsiders.
False information and representations as to rights
31 False information.
32 False representations as to rights.
Miscellaneous
33 Exclusion from Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976.
34 Disclosure of information obtained under section 14 or 15.
35 Reference collections of plant material.
General
36 Offences by bodies corporate, etc.
37 Jurisdiction in relation to offences.
38 Interpretation of Part I.
39 Application of Part I to the Crown.
40 Application of Part I to existing rights.
Transition
41 Varieties of recent creation.
Part II The Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal
42 The Tribunal.
43 Jurisdiction under arbitration agreements.
44 Statutory jurisdiction: regulations.
45 Appeals from the Tribunal.
46 Interpretation of Part II.
Part III Miscellaneous and general
Miscellaneous
47 Extension of time limit for institution of proceedings for contravention of seeds regulations.
General
48 Regulations and orders.
49 General interpretation.
50 Receipts.
51 Consequential amendments.
52 Repeals.
53 Extent.
54 Short title and commencement.
SCHEDULES
SCHEDULE 1 The Plant Variety Rights Office
Staff
1The Ministers may appoint a deputy controller and such other...
Remuneration
2There shall be paid to the Controller and any other...
Authority of officers
3Any act or thing directed to be done by or...
Proof of documents
4Prima facie evidence, or in Scotland sufficient evidence, of any...
5Any document purporting to be certified in accordance with paragraph...
SCHEDULE 2 Conditions for the grant of plant breeders’ rights
Part I Criteria for grant of rights
Distinctness
1The variety shall be deemed to be distinct if it...
Uniformity
2The variety shall be deemed to be uniform if, subject...
Stability
3The variety shall be deemed to be stable if those...
Novelty
4(1) The variety shall be deemed to be new if...
Part II Priorities between applicants for rights
5(1) If a variety is bred, or discovered and developed,...
6(1) If the following conditions are met, an application for...
7(1) Any priority which an application for the grant of...
SCHEDULE 3 The Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal
Constitution of the Tribunal
1In any case, the jurisdiction of the Tribunal shall be...
Chairman
2(1) The Lord Chancellor shall appoint a person to be...
3(1) The Lord President of the Court of Session shall...
4(1) The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland shall appoint...
5(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, a person’s appointment under...
6(1) In the case of the temporary absence or inability...
The two panels
7(1) The Ministers shall draw up and from time to...
Selection from the panels
8(1) The members of the panels who are to deal...
Sittings of the Tribunal
9The Tribunal may, for the purpose of hearing proceedings brought...
Decisions of the Tribunal
10(1) Any decision of the Tribunal in exercise of their...
Costs
11(1) In any proceedings brought before the Tribunal in England...
12In any proceedings brought before the Tribunal in Scotland under...
Rules
13(1) The Lord Chancellor may make rules as to the...
Remuneration of Tribunal members
14The Ministers may pay to members of the Tribunal such...
Officers and servants
15(1) The Ministers may appoint such officers and servants of...
Interpretation
16In this Schedule— “appointing authority” means— in relation to an...
SCHEDULE 4 Repeals

Plant Varieties Act 1997

1997 c. 66

An Act to make provision about rights in relation to plant varieties; to make provision about the Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal; to extend the time limit for institution of proceedings for contravention of seeds regulations; and for connected purposes.

C1C2C3Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Annotations:
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1

Act: transfer of certain functions (1.7.1999) by S.I. 1999/672, art. 2, Sch. 1

Act: transfer of functions, property, rights and liabilities (27.12.1999) by S.I. 1999/3141, arts. 2(1)(5), 3, Sch.