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ACT OF 1961

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION

OF NEW VARIETIES OF PLANTS

adopted by the Diplomatic Conference

on December 1, 1961

R manlevel=Note>TABLE OF CONTENTS(i)

(i)

 This Table of Contents is added for the convenience of the reader. It does not appear in the original (French) text of the Convention.
 

Preamble
 

Article 1:

 Purpose of the Convention: Constitution of a Union;
  Seat of the Union
 

Article 2:

 Forms of Protection; Meaning of "Variety"
 

Article 3:.

 National Treatment
 

Article 4:

 Botanical Genera and Species Which Must or May Be Protected;
 

Reciprocity; Possibility of Declaring that Articles 2
 

and 3 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial
 

Property Are Applicable
 

Article 5:

 Rights Protected; Scope of Protection
 

Article 6:

 Conditions Required for Protection
 

Article 7:

 Official Examination of New Varieties; Provisional Protection
 

Article 8:

 Period of Protection
 

Article 9:

 Restrictions in the Exercise of Rights Protected
 

Article 10:

 Nullity and Forfeiture of the Rights Protected
 

Article 11:

 Free Choice of the Member State in Which the First Application
 

is Filed; Application in Other Member States; Independence of
 

Protection in Different Member States
 

Article 12:

 Right of Priority
 

Article 13:

 Denomination of New Varieties of Plants
 

Article 14:

 Protection Independent of Measures Regulating Production, Certification and Marketing
 

Article 15:

 Organs of the Union
 

Article 16:

 Composition of the Council; Votes
 

Article 17:

 Observers in Meetings of the Council
 

Article 18:

 Officers of the Council
 

Article 19:

 Meetings of the Council
 

Article 20:

 Rules of Procedure of the Council; Administrative and Financial Regulations of the Union
 

Article 21:

 Duties of the Council
 

Article 22:

 Majorities Required for Decisions of the Council
 

Article 23:

 Tasks of the Office of the Union; Responsibilities of the Secretary-General; Appointment of Staff
 

Article 24:

 Supervisory Function of the Swiss Government
 

Article 25:

 Cooperation with the Unions Administered by BIRPI
 

Article 26:

 Finances
 

Article 27:

 Revision of the Convention
 

Article 28:

 Languages To Be Used by the Office and in the Council
 

Article 29:

 Special Agreements for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants
 

Article 30:

 Implementation of the Convention on the Domestic Level; Special Agreements on the Joint Utilization of Examination Services
 

Article 31:

 Signature and Ratification; Entry Into Force
 

Article 32:

 Accession; Entry Into Force
 

Article 33:

 Communications Indicating the Genera and Species Eligible for Protection
 

Article 34:

 Territories
 

Article 35:

 Transitional Limitation of the Requirement of Novelty
 

Article 36:

 Transitional Rules Concerning the Relationship Between Variety Denominations and Trade Marks
 

Article 37:

 Preservation of Existing Rights
 

Article 38:

 Settlement of Disputes
 

Article 39:

 Reservations
 

Article 40:

 Duration and Denunciation of the Convention; Discontinuation of the Application of the Convention to Territories
 

Article 41:

 Copies of the Convention; Language and Official Translations of the Convention
 

Annex:

 List Referred to in Paragraph (3) of Article 4

THE CONTRACTING STATES,
 

Convinced of the importance attaching to the protection of new varieties of plants not only for the development of agriculture in their territory but also for safeguarding the interests of breeders,
 

Conscious of the special problems arising from the recognition and protection of the right of the creator in this field and particularly of the limitations that the requirements of the public interest may impose on the free exercise of such a right,
 

Deeming it highly desirable that these problems to which very many States rightly attach importance should be resolved by each of them in accordance with uniform and clearly defined principles,
 

Anxious to reach an agreement on these principles to which other States having the same interests may be able to adhere,

Have agreed as follows:
 

Article 1

[Purpose of the Convention; Constitution of a Union; Seat of the Union]1

 Articles have been given titles to facilitate their identification. There are no titles in the signed (French) text
 
 

(1)
  The purpose of this Convention is to recognise and to ensure to the breeder of a new plant variety, or to his successor in title, a right the content and the conditions of exercise of which are defined hereinafter.
 

(2)
  The States parties to this Convention, hereinafter referred to as member States of the Union, constitute a Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.
 

(3)
  The seat of the Union and its permanent organs shall be at Geneva.
 

Article 2

[Forms of Protection; Meaning of "Variety"]

 

(1)
  Each member State of the Union may recognise the right of the breeder provided for in this Convention by the grant either of a special title of protection or of a patent. Nevertheless, a member State of the Union whose national law admits of protection under both these forms may provide only one of them for one and the same botanical genus or species.
 

(2)
  For the purposes of this Convention, the word "variety" applies to any cultivar, clone, line, stock or hybrid which is capable of cultivation and which satisfies the provisions of subparagraphs (1)(c) and (d) of Article 6.
 

Article 3

[National Treatment]

 

(1)
  Without prejudice to the rights specially provided for in this Convention, natural and legal persons resident or having their headquarters in one of the member States of the Union shall, in so far as the recognition and protection of the breeder's right are concerned, enjoy in the other member States of the Union the same treatment as is accorded or may hereafter be accorded by the respective laws of such States to their own nationals, provided that such persons comply with the conditions and formalities imposed on such nationals.
 

(2)
  Nationals of member States of the Union not resident or having their headquarters in one of those States shall likewise enjoy the same rights provided that they fulfil such obligations as may be imposed on them for the purpose of enabling the new varieties which they have bred to be examined and the multiplication of such varieties to be controlled.
 
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