The Patents and Plant Variety Rights (Compulsory Licensing) Regulations 2002

Community plant variety rights: cross licences of patents

15.—(1) Where the Community Plant Variety Office has granted—

(a)on the grounds specified in Article 12(3) of Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions(1), and

(b)under Article 29 of Council Regulation,

a compulsory exploitation right in respect of a Community plant variety right to a proprietor of a biotechnological invention protected by a patent, who could not otherwise exploit in the UK the biotechnological invention protected by the patent without infringing a Community plant variety right, the holder of the Community plant variety right concerned may, in accordance with rules, apply to the Comptroller General of Patents for a cross licence of the biotechnological invention protected by the patent and on such application shall pay the prescribed fee.

(2) On receipt of an application under paragraph (1) and payment of the prescribed fee, the Comptroller General shall consider and process the application in accordance with rules.

(3) Where the holder of the Community plant variety right concerned has paid the prescribed fee and demonstrates in his application to the satisfaction of the Comptroller General of Patents that—

(a)he has a Community plant variety right, and

(b)the Community Plant Variety Office has granted, under Article 29 of Council Regulation, a compulsory exploitation right in respect of it which allows a proprietor of a patent for a biotechnological invention to exploit in the UK the biotechnological invention protected by the patent,

the Comptroller General of Patents shall order the grant of a cross licence on reasonable terms to the holder of the Community plant variety right concerned (or, where the holder is a government department, to any person specified in the application) to use in the UK the biotechnological invention protected by the patent.