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Breeders Rights About the Plant Breeder's Rights Scheme
About the Plant Breeder's Rights Scheme
The Plant Breeder's Rights scheme in Australia is administered under the Plant Breeder's
Rights Act 1994. This Act conforms with the 1991 revision of the UPOV Convention and replaces
the Plant Variety Rights Act 1987. Under the new legislation, new varieties of all plant,
fungal, algal species and transgenic plants are eligible for protection.
As of 10 December 2004, the Plant
Breeder's Rights Office (PBRO) have relocated from the Rural Policy and
Innovation Division of the Australian Government Department of Agriculture Fisheries
and Forestry to IP Australia . Mr Doug Waterhouse is both Registrar of PBR and Director of the PBRO. A
staff of four examiners and two administrative officers support Mr Waterhouse in these
functions. PBRO receives approximately 300 applications per year.
Australia's PBR scheme uses breeder testing to establish the distinctness,
uniformity and stability of new varieties. The breeder or their agent carries out
comparative trials, using UPOV technical guidelines, to establish that each new
variety satisfies
DUS criteria. To ensure technical rigour, the PBRO requires all applicants to
engage the services of an accredited qualified person (QP).
The QP, in collaboration with the PBR Office, accepts responsibility for all aspects
of the comparative trial, including the choice of comparative varieties, experimental
design, collection of data, statistical analysis and preparation of a description
of the variety. There are over 200 QPs in Australia and New Zealand, each of whom
is accredited to consult on one or a limited range of plant species in which they have
expertise. The QP must apply to the PBRO for accreditation before they can act as
PBR consultants and assist applicants. This involves a written application outlining qualifications, experience, and names of referees. The QP must also attend annual training workshops given by the PBRO to retain accreditation. These measures aim to ensure that PBR grants are technically rigorous and legally sustainable in the event of infringement. A comparative trial in Australia may not always be necessary, providing the variety has been test grown in a UPOV member country using official UPOV guidelines and test procedures, and all the most similar varieties of common knowledge have been included in the trial. If the test indicates the variety is clearly distinct from known Australian varieties, a comparative test may not be warranted. In both of these cases, the PBRO still requires applicants to submit a description in the
Plant Varieties Journal.
The PBRO publishes a description and photograph of each variety in the Plant Varieties
Journal. Publication allows a breeder's peers to object to the granting of PBR, informs
industry and gives the public an opportunity to comment on individual applications.
The PBRO investigates all objections and comments it receives.
The Registrar consults widely on all applications. Specifically, he consults the
Australian Cultivar Registration Authority for specialist advice on all applications
for new varieties of Australian indigenous species. He also utilises the knowledge and
experience of the
Plant Breeder's Rights Advisory Committee (PBRAC). The Advisory Committee is
comprised of representatives of breeders, producers and consumers, and others with
appropriate qualifications and experience.
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