ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL 
DEL COMERCIO RESTRICTED 
IP/N/1/EEC/P/3 
16 de abril de 1996 
(96-1371) 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos 
de Propiedad Intelectual Relacionados 
con el Comercio Original: español/francés/inglés 
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA 
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD 
DEL PÁRRAFO 2 DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
Comunidades Europeas 
En el presente documento se reproduce el texto de las siguientes leyes y reglamentos, notificados 
por las Comunidades Europeas en virtud del párrafo 2 del artículo 63 del Acuerdo (véase el documento 
IP/N / 1/EEC/ 1/Rev .1): 
Página 
Reglamento (CE) Nº 2100/94 del Consejo, de 27 de julio de 1994, 2 
sobre derechos comunitarios de las obtenciones vegetales 
Reglamento (CE) Nº 2506/95 del Consejo, de 25 de octubre de 1995, 32 
por el que se modifica el Reglamento (CE) Nº 2100/94 IP IN 11 IEEC/P 13 
Page 2 
1. 9. 94 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 22711 
(Acts u!hosc publication is oblig,1tory) 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2100/94 
of 27 July 1994 
on Community plant variety rights 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN Ul'ION, 
Ha\'ing regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Community, and in particular Article 235 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament e), 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social 
Committee (-'), 
\\'hereas plant varieties pose specific problems as regards 
the industrial property regime which may be applicable; 
\Vhereas industrial property regimes for plant varieties 
ha\"C not been harmonized at Community level and 
therefore continue to he regulated by the legislation of 
the ~lember States. the content of \vhich is not 
uniform; 
\,\'hereas in such circumstances it is appropriate to create 
a Community regime which, although co-existing with 
national regimes, allows for the grant of industrial 
property rights valid throughout the Community; 
\\'hereas it is appropriate that the implementation and 
applic .. 1tion of this Community regime should not be 
cHried out by the authorities of the ~lelllber States bur 
hy ~1 Community Office with legal personality. the 
'Community Plan Variety Office'; 
\\'hcrcas the s\,stc:m must also ha\'(' regard to 
dC\'L'!opmcllts in' pbnr breeding tcchniqucs includ~ng 
hiotl'chnology; \\"\1er(\lS in orJer to stimulate the hreedll1g 
:lJ1l1 dt.?\"l~lopment of Ile\\' \aricties, there should be 
imprm'eJ protection (omp,ued with t.he present. sitll~ltion 
for all plant brceders without, hO\\"(.'\·cr, unJustltJably 
(:) OJ ;-\0 C 24-1, 28. 9. 1')90, p, 1 ~ll1J 
OJ \:() C 113.23.4. 1<)93. p, -:-. 
i-) n.l \:() C 31)S, 23. 11. 1992, p. 5S Jllcl 
Ul \:0 C 6~, 16.3. 1<)92. p. 1-1)\. ;) OJ \:0 C 60, S. 3, 1<)'lI,I" -15. impairing access to protection generally or in the case of 
certain breeding techniques; 
Whereas varieties of all botanical genera and species 
should be protectable; 
\Vhereas protectable vanetles must comply with 
internationally recognized requirements, i.e. distinctness, 
uniformity, stabHity and novelty, and also be designated 
by a prescribed variety denomination; 
Whereas it is important to provide for a definition of a 
plant variety, in order to ensure the proper functioning of 
the system; 
Whereas this definition is not intended to alter definitions 
which may have been established in the field of 
intellectual'property rights, especially the patent field, nor 
to interfere with or exclude from application laws 
governing the protectability of products, including plants 
and plant m:lterial, or processes under sllch other 
ind ustria I property rights; 
\'{;'hereas it is however highly desirable to have a common 
definition in both fjelds; whereas therefore appropriate 
efforts at international level should be supported to reach 
such a coml11on definition; 
\'('hereas for the grant of Community plant variety rights 
an assessment of important charactcristics relating 'to the 
vanety IS necessary; whereas, however, these 
ch~1r~lI.:teristics need nor necessarily rebte to their 
economiL importance; 
Wherc~lS the system must also cbrity to whom the right 
to Community: plant varil.?ty protection pertains; whereas 
in some C1ses it would be to se \"l?raI persons in common, 
not just to onc; whereas the formal entitlement ro m;lke 
applications must be regulated; 
\V'here'15 the system must also define the term 'holder' 
lised i'n this 'Regubtion; whereas that term 'holder' 
\\,;thollt further specification is used in this Regulation 
. .lding in its Articlt: 29 (5), it is intt'nded to be within 
me,ming of Article 13 (1) thereof; IP IN I l/EEC/P 13 
Page 3 
No L 227/2 Official Journal of the European Communities 1. 9. 94 
\'{'hereas, since the effect of a Community plant "ariety 
right should be uniform throughout the Community, 
commercial transactions subject to the holder's agreement 
must be precisely delimited; \vhereas the scope of 
protection should be extended, compared with most 
national systems, to certain material of the variety to take 
account of trade via countries outside the Community 
without protection; \vhereas, however, the introduction 
of the principle of exhaustion of rights must ensure that 
the protection is not excessive; 
Whereas in order to stimulate plant breeding, the system 
basically confirms the internationally accepted rule of free 
access to protected varieties for the development 
therefrom, and exploitation, of new varieties; 
Whereas in certain cases where the new variety, although 
distinct, is essentially derived from the" initial variety, a 
certain form of dependency from the holder of the latter 
one should be created; 
Whereas, the exercise of Community plant variety rights 
must be subjected to restrictions laid down in provisions 
adopted in the public interest; " " 
Whereas this includes safeguarding agricultural 
production; whereas that purpose requires an 
authorization for farmers to use the product of the 
harvest for propagation under certain conditions; 
Whereas it must be ensured that the conditions are laid 
down at Community level; 
Whereas compulsory 'licensing should also be provided 
for under certain circumstances in the public interest, 
which may include the need to supply the market with 
material offering specified features, or to maintain the 
incentive for continued breeding of improved varieties; 
Whereas the use of prescribed variety denominations 
"" should be made obligatory; 
\Vhereas the Community plant variety right should in 
principle have a life of at least 25 years and in the case of 
\'ine and tree species, at least 30 years; whereas other 
grounds for termination must be specified; 
Whereas a Community plant variety right is an object of 
the holder's property and its role in relation to the 
non-harmonized legal provisions of the .Member State~, 
p:.uticularly of civil law, must therefore be clarified; 
whereas this applies also to the settlement of infringements and the enforcement of entitlement to 
Community plant variety rights; 
Whereas, it is necessary to ensure that the full application 
of the principles of the Community plant variety rights 
system is not impaired by the effects of other systems; 
whereas for this purpose certain rules, in conformity with 
Member States' existing international commitments, are 
required concerning the rcbtionship to other industrial 
property rights; 
Whereas it is indispensable to examine whether and to 
what extent the conditions for the protcction accorded in 
other industrial property systems, such as patents, should 
be adapted or otherwise modified for consistency with 
the Community plant variety rights system; v,,·hereas this, 
where necessary, should be laid down in balanced rules 
by additional Community law; 
Whereas the duties and powers of the Community Plant 
Variety Office, including its Boards of Appeal, relating to 
the grant, termination or verification of Community plant 
variety rights and publications are as far as possible to be 
modelled on rules developed. for other systems, as are 
also the Office's structure and Rules of Procedure, the 
collaboration with the Commission and Member States 
particularly through an Administrative Council, the 
involvement of Examination Offices In technical 
examination and moreover the necessary budgetary 
measures; 
Whereas the Office should be advised and supcrvised by 
the aforementioned Administrative Council, composed of 
representatives of ~1ember States and the Commission; 
Whereas the Treaty does not proyide, for the adoption of 
this Regulation, powers other than those of Article 235; 
\'\!hereas this Regulation takes into account eXlstlJlg 
international conventions such as the International 
Convention for the Protection of 1'\ew Varieties of Plants 
(UPOV Convention), the Convention of the Grant of 
European Patents (European Patent Convcntion) or the 
Agrcemcnt on trade-related aspects of intellectual 
property rights, including trade in counterfeit goods; 
whercas it consequently implements the ban on patenting 
plant \"arieties only to the extent that the European 
P;1tent Convention so requires, i.e. to rlant varieties as 
such; 
Where.1s this RcguLltion should he re-ex.1mincd for 
amendment as nccessary in the light of future 
developments in the aforementioned Convcnrions, 
HAS :\[)OPTH) THh IU(JL"I .. -\TIO~: IP IN 11 IEEC/P 13 
Page 4 
I. 9. 94 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 227/3 
PART ONE 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
Article 1 
Community plant variety rights 
A system of Community plant variety rights is hereby 
esublished as the sole and exclusive form of Community 
industrial property rights for plant varieties. 
Article 2 
Uniform effect of Community plant variety rights 
Community plant variety rights shall have uniform effect 
within the territory of the Community and may not be 
granted, transferred or terminated in respect of the 
abovementioned territory otherwise than on a uniform 
basis. Article 3 
National property rights for plant varieties 
This Regulation shall be without prejudice to the right of 
the Member States to grant national property rights for 
plant vanetIes, subject to the proVIsIOns of 
Article 92 (1). 
Article 4 
Community Office 
For the purpose of the implementation of this Regulation 
a Community Plant Variety Office, hereinafter referred to 
as 'the Office', is hereby established. 
PART TWO 
SUBSTANTIVE LAW 
CHAPTER I 
CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE GRANT OF 
CO:\lMU:-':ITY PLANT VARIETY RIGHTS 
Article 5 
Object of Community plant variety rights 
1. Varieties of ;:111 botanical genera and species, 
including, illter a li.l , hybrids between genera or species, 
may form the object of Community plant variety rights. 
2. For the purpose of this Regulation, 'variety' shall be 
u\.;cn to me~lI1 ;1 pbnr grouping \vithin a single botanical 
U\:lll1 of the lowest known rank, which grouping, 
irrcspcctive of whether the conditions for the grant of a 
pbnt \";Hiety right are fully mct, can be: 
defined by the expression of the characteristics that 
results from a given genotype or combination of 
genotypes, 
di~tingllished from any other plant grouping by the 
l'xprt:ssion of at least one of the said characteristics, 
and -considered as a unit with regard to its suitability for 
being propagated unchanged. 
3. A plant grouping consists of entire plants or parts 
of plants as far as such parts are capable of producing 
entire plants, both referred to hereinafter as 'variety 
constituents' . 
4. The expression of the characteristics referred to in 
paragraph 2, first indent, may be either inv:lfiable or 
variable ben .... een variety constituents of the same kind 
provided that also the level of variation results from the 
genotype or combination of genotypes. 
Article 6 
Protectable varieties 
Community plant variety rights shall be granted for 
varieties tha tare: 
(a) distinct; 
(~) ) uniform; 
(c) stable; and 
(d) new. IP 1Nl 1 IEEC/P 13 
Page 5 
No L 22714 Official Journal of the European Communities 1. 9. 94 
~'loreover, the variety must be designated by a 
denomination in accordance with the provisions of 
Article 63. 
Article 7 
Distinctness 
1. A variety shall be deemed to be distinct if it is 
clearly distinguishable by reference to the expression of 
the characteristics that results from a particular genotype 
or combination of genotypes, from any other variety 
whose existence is a matter of common knowledge on the 
date of application determined pursuant to Article 51. 
2. The existence of another variety shall in particular 
be deemed to be a matter of common knowledge if on 
the date of application determined pursuant to 
Article 51: 
(a) it was the object of a plant variety right or entered in 
an official register of plant vanetles, III the 
Community or any State, or in any 
intergovernmental organization with relevant 
competence; 
(b) an application for the granting of a plant variety 
right in its respect or for its entering in such an 
official register was filed, provided the application 
has led to the granting or entering in the meantime. 
The implementing rules pursuant to Article 114 may 
specify further cases as examples which shall be deemed 
to be a matter of common knowledge. 
Article 8 
Uniformity 
A variety shall be deemed to be uniform if, subject to the 
v;:uiation that may be expected from the particular 
features of its propagation, it is sufficiently uniform in 
the expression of those characteristics which :ue included 
in the examination for distinctness, as well as any others 
used for the variety description. 
Article 9 
Stability 
A variety shall be deemed to be stable if the expression of 
the characteristics which are included in the examination 
for distinctness as well as any others used for the variety 
description, remain unchanged after repe;lted prop~lption 
or, in.the case of a particular cycle of propagation, at the 
end of each sllch cycle. 
Article 10 
Novelty 
1. A variety shall be deemed to be new if, at the date 
of application determined purslum to Article 51, variety 
constituents or haf\'ested materi.ll ot the variety hJve nor 
hl'en sold or orhef\vise disposed of tu others, by or with the consent of the breeder within the mealllng of 
Article 11, for purposes of exploitJtion of the variety: 
(a) earlier than one year before the abovementioned 
date, within the territory of the Community; 
(b) earlier than four years or, in the case of trees or of 
vines, earlier than six years before the said date, 
outside the territory of the Community. 
2. The disposal of variety constituents to an official 
body for statutory purposes, or to others on the basis of 
a contractual or other legal relationship solely for 
production, reproduction, multiplicJtion, conditioning or 
storage, shall not be deemed to be a disposal to others 
within the meaning of paragraph 1, provided that the 
breeder preserves the exclusive right of disposal of these 
and other variety constituents, and no further disposal is 
made. However, such disposal of variety constituents 
shall be deemed to be a disposal in terms of paragraph 1 
if these constituents are repeatedly used in the production 
of a hybrid variety and if there is disposal of variety 
constituents or harvested material of the hybrid variety. 
Likewise, the disposal of variety constituents by one 
company or firm within the meaning of the second 
paragraph of Article 58 of the Treaty to another of such 
companies or firms shall not be deemed to be a disposal 
to others, if one of them belongs entirely to the other or 
if both belong entirely to a third such company or firm, 
provided no further disposal is made. This provision shall 
not apply in respect of cooperative societies. 
3. The disposal of variety constituents or harvested 
material of the variety, which ha\"e heen produced from 
plants grown for the purposes specified in Article 15 (b) 
and (c) and which are not used for further reproduction 
or multiplication, shall not be deemed to be exploitation 
of the variety, unlrss reference is made to the variety for 
purposes of that disposal. 
Likewise, no account shall be taken of Jny disposJ.1 to 
others, if it either was due to, or in consequence of the 
fact that the breeder had dispbyed the variety at an 
official or officiJlly recognized exhibition within the 
meaning of the Conn'ntion on International Exhibitions, 
or at an exhibition in a Member State which was 
officially recognized as equivalent by thJt ~lember 
State. 
CH:\PTER 11 
PERSO:\S ENTITLED 
Article 11 
Entitlement to Community plant variety rights 
I, The person who hrl'd, or discovered Jl1li developed 
the oriery, or his successor in ritle, hoth -the person 
and his succc'>sor -referred to hereinJftcr JS 'the IP IN/I/EEC/P 13 
Page 6 
1. 9. 94 OfficiJI Journal of thc Europc.1I1 Communitics r-.Jo L 227/5 
hreeder', shall be entitled to the Community pbnt vJriety 
right. 
2. If two or more persons bred, or discovered and 
dcveloped the variety jointly, entitlement shall bc vcsted 
jointly in them or their respective successors in title. This 
provision shall also apply to two or more persons in 
cases where one or more of them discovered the variety 
and the other or the others dewloped it. 
3. Entitlement shall also be invested jointly in the 
breeder and any other person or persons, if the breeder 
and the other person or persons have agreed to joint 
entirlement by written declaration. 
4. If the breeder is an employee, the entitlement to the 
Community plant variety right shall be determined in 
accordance with the national law applicable to the 
employment relationship in the context of which the 
variety was bred, or discovered and developed. 
5. Where entitlement to a Communiry plant variety 
right is vested jointly in twO or more persons pursuant to 
paragraphs 2 to 4, one or more of them may empower 
the other~ by written declaration to such effect to claim 
entitlement thereto. . 
Article 12 
Entitlement to file an application for a Community plant 
variety right 
1. An application for a Community pbm variety right 
may be filed by any natural or legal person, or any body 
ranking as a legal person under the law applic3ble to that 
body, provided they are: 
(a) nationals of one of the ~1embcr States or nationals 
of a member of the Union for the Protcction of l\ew 
Varieties of Plants within the me;:lf1ing of Article 1 
(xi) of the Act of 1991 of the Interna tion,1l 
Convention for the Protection of New Varicties of 
Plants, or are domiciled or have their seat or an 
establishment in such a State; 
(0) nationals of any other State \\"ho do not meet the 
requirements bid do,vn in (a) in respect of domicile, 
seat or establishment, in so far as the Commission, 
after obtaining the opinion of the Adminisrrariye 
Council referred to in Article 36, has so decided. 
Such a decision may be m.1Jc dependent on the other 
State affording pr()[ection for varieties of the S~1n1t: 
botanical taxon to n.1[ionals of Llll the ~lember 
States, which corre~ponds to the protection;) fforded 
pursuant to this Regulation; the Commission shall 
establish whether this condition is met. 
:\n application nu)" be filed jointly b~' tWO or more 
Slh:h persons. CHAPTER III 
EFFECTS OF CO,\L\lUNITI' PLANT VARIETY RIGHTS 
Article 13 
Rights of the holder of a Community plant variety right 
and prohibited acts 
1. A Community plant variety right shall have the 
effect that the holder or holders of the Community plant 
variety right, hereinafter referred to as 'the holder', shall 
be entitled to effect the acts set out in paragraph 2. 
2. \'('ithou! prejudice to the provisions of Articles 15 
and 16, the following acts in respect of variety 
constituents, or harvested material of the protected 
variety, both referred to hereinafter as 'material', shall 
require the authorization of the holder: 
(a) production or reproduction (multiplication); 
(b) conditioning for the purpose of propagation; 
(c) offering for sale; 
(d) selling or other marketing; 
(e) exporting from the Community; 
(f) importing to the Community; 
(g) stocking for any of the purposes mentioned in (a) to 
(f). 
The holder may make his authorization subject to 
conditions and limitations. 
3. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall apply in respect 
of h~HvesteJ material onlv if this was obtained through 
the unauthorized use ot variety constituents of the 
protected v:uiety, and unless the holder has had 
reasonable opportunity to exercise his right in relation to 
the said variety constituents. 
4. In the implementing rules pursuant to Article 114, it 
may be provided that in specific cases the provisions of 
p_uagraph 2 of this Article shall also apply in respect of 
products obtained directly from material of the protected 
variety. They nu)" <lpply only if SLlch products were 
obtained through the unauthorized use of material of the 
prorccteJ "ariety, and unless the holder has had 
re~lson.lble opportunity to exercise his right in relation to 
the s~lid 111.1[erial. To the extent that the provisions of 
par.1gL1ph 2 apply to products directly obtained, they 
s]).111 also be considered to be 'material'. 
5. The provisions of paragraphs 1 to 4 shall also apply 
111 re la tion to: 
(a) varieties which are essential I\' derived from the 
y.nil'ty in rl'spc(t of which tile Community plant 
\,uil'ty right h.1S beell granted, where this YariC'ty IS 
not itself an essl'ntially deri\·ed variety; IP IN 11 IEEC/P/3 
Page 7 
No L 22716 Official Journal of the European Communities 1. 9. 94 
(b) varieties which arc not distinct in accordance with 
the provisions of Article 7 from the protected 
variety; and 
(c) varieties whose prod uction requires the repea ted use 
of the protected variety. 
6. For the purposes of paragraph 5 (a), a variety shall 
be deemed to be essentially derived from another variety, 
referred to hereinafter as 'the initial variety' when: 
(a) it is predominantly derived from the initial variety, 
or from a variety that is itself predominantly derived 
from the initial variety; 
(b) it is distinct in accordance with the provisions of 
Article 7 from the initial variety; and 
(c) except for the differences which result from the act 
of derivation, it conforms essentially to the initial 
variety in the expression of the characteristics that 
results from the genotype or combination of 
genotypes of the initial variety. 
7. The implementing rules pursuant to Article 114 
may specify possible acts of derivation which come at 
least under the provisions of paragraph 6. 
8. Without prejudice to Article 14 and 29, the exercise 
of the rights conferred by Community plant variety rights 
may not violate any provisions adopted on the grounds 
of public morality, public policy or public security, the 
protection of health and life of humans, animals or 
plantS, the protection of the environment, the protection 
of industrial or commercial property, or the safeguarding 
of competition, of trade or of agricultural production. 
Article 14 
Derogation from Community plant variety right 
1. Notwithstanding Article 13 (2), and for the 
purposes of safeguarding agricultural production, farmers 
are authorized to use for propagating purposes in the 
field, on their own holding the product of the harvest 
which they have obtained by planting, on their 0\\,11 
holding, propagating material of a variety other than a 
hybrid or synthetic variety, \vhich is covered by a 
Community plant variety right. 
1 The provisions of paragraph 1 shall only apply to 
agricultural plant species of: 
(a) Fodder plants: 
Cicer arietinum L. -Chickpea milhetch 
Lupinus luteus L. -Yellow lupin 
Medicago sativa 1.. -Lucerne 
Pisum sativum 1.. (partim) -Field pea 
Trifolium alexandrinul11 L. -Berseem/Egyptian 
clover 
Trifolium resllpinatum L. -Persi~1l1 dover 
Vicia faba -Field bean 
Vicia sativa L. -Commoll vetch and, in the case of Portugal, Lolium multiflorum lam 
-Italian rye-grass 
(b) Cereals: 
Avena sariva -Oats 
Hordeum vulgare 1.. -Barley 
Oryza sativa 1.. -Rice 
Phalaris canariensis 1.. -Canary grass 
Secale cereale L. -Rye 
X Triticosecale \XTittm. -Triticale 
Triticium aestivum 1.. emend. Fiori et Pao!. -
Wheat 
Triticum durum Desf. -Durum wheat 
Triticum spelta L. -Spelt wheat 
(c) Potatoes: 
Solanum tuberosum -Potatoes 
(d) Oil and fibre plants: 
Brassica napus 1.. (partim) -Swede rape 
Brassica rapa 1.. (partim) -Turnip rape 
Linum usitatissimum -linseed with the exclusion of 
flax. 
3. Conditions to give effect to the, derogation provided 
for in paragraph t" and to safeguard the legitimate 
interests of the breeder and of the farmer, shall be 
established, before the entry into force of this Regulation, 
in implementing rules pursuant to Arricle 114, on the 
basis of the following criteria: 
there shall be no quantitative restriction of the level of 
the farmer's holding to the extent necessary for the 
requirements of the holding, 
the product of the harvest may be processed for 
planting, either by the farmer himself or through 
services supplied to him, without prejudice to certain 
restrictions which ~lember States may establish 
regarding the organization of the processing of the 
said product of rhe harvest, in particular in order to 
ensure identity of the product entered for processing 
with that resulting from processing, 
small farmers shall not be required to pay any 
remuneration to the holder; small farmers shall be 
considered to be: 
in the case of those of the plant species referred to 
in p:uagraph 2 of this Article to which Council 
Regulation (EEC) :-.Jo 1765/92 of 30 June 1992 
establishing a support system for producers of 
certain arable crops (1) applies, farmers who do 
not grow plants on an area bigger than the area 
which would be needed to produce 92 tonnes of 
cereals; for the calculation of the area, 
Article 8 (2) of the aforesaid Regulation shall 
apply, 
(I) 01 ~o L 181, I. "", 1992, p. 12. Regulation as last on1t'nJed 
by Regubtion (EEC) )\;0 1552/93 (OJ I"o L 154, 25. 6. 
1993, p, 19). IP IN 11 IEEC/P 13 
Page 8 
1. 9" 94 OfficiL11 Journal of the Europc1I1 Communities ~o L 227/7 
in the case of other plant species referred to in 
paragraph 2 of this Article. farmers who Illeet 
comparable appropriate criteria, 
other farmers shall be required to P;lY an equitahle 
rt:l11uneration to the holder, which shall be sensibly 
lower than the amount charged for the licensed 
production of propagating material of the same 
\"arierv in the same area; the actual level of this 
equirdble remuneration may be subject to variation 
over time, taking into account the extent to which use 
will be made of the derogation provided for 111 
p,uagraph 1 in respect of the variety concerned, 
monitoring compliance with the prOVISIOns of this 
Article or the provisions adopted pursuant to this 
Article shall be a matter of exclusive responsibility of 
holders; in organizing that monitoring, they may not 
provide for assistance from official bodies, 
relevant information shall be provided to the holders 
on their request, by farmers and by suppliers of 
processing services; relevant information may equally 
be provided by official bodies involved in the 
monitoring of agricultural production, if such 
information has been obtained" through ordinary 
performance of their tasks, without additional burden 
or costs. These provisions are without prejudice, in 
respect of personal data, to Community and nationai 
legislation on the protection of individuals with 
regard to the processing and free movement of 
personal data. 
Article 15 
Limitation of the effects of Community plant variety 
rights 
The Community plant variety rights shall not extend to: 
(a) acts done privately and for non-commercial 
purposes; 
(b) adS done for experiment;ll purposes; 
(c) Jcts done for the purpose of breeding, or discO\-ering 
and deH>loping other varieties; 
(J) adS referred to in Article 13 (2) to (4), In respect of 
such other varieties, except where the pro"isions of 
.-\rricle 13 (5) apply, or where the other variety or 
the mJterial of this variety comes under the 
prott:ction of a property right which does not 
cont;lin a comp.uable provision; :11ld 
kl ,h'ts whose prohibition would viobte the provision~ 
Llid down in Articles 13 (8), 14 or 29. Article 16 
Exhaustion of Community plant variety rights 
The Community pbnt variety right sh~ll1 not extend to 
:lcts conccrning :lny mJtcriJI of the protectcd varicty, or 
of J \'Jriety co\"Crcd by the pro\"isions of Article 13 (5), 
which has bcen disposed of to others by the holder or 
with his consent, in any part of the Community, or any 
m:lterial derived from the said l1uterial, unless such 
acts: 
(a) involve further propagation of the variety 111 
question, except where such propagation was 
intended when the material was disposed of; or 
(b) involve an export of variety constituents into a third 
country which does not protect varieties of the plant 
genus or species to which the variety belongs, except 
where the exported materials is for final 
consumption purposes. 
Article 17 
Use of variety denominations 
1. Any person who, within the territory of the 
Community, offers or disposes of to others for 
commercial purposes variety constituents of a protected 
variety, or a variety covered by the provisions of 
Article 13 (5), must use the variety denomination 
designated pursuant to Article 63; where it is used in 
writing, the variety denomination shall be readily 
distinguishable and clearly legible. If a trade mark, trade 
name or similar indication is associated with the 
designated denomination, this denomination must be 
easily recognizable as such. 
2. Any person effecting such acts in respect of any 
other material of the variety, must inform of that 
denomination in accordance with other provisions in law 
or if a request is made by an authority, by the purchaser 
or by any othcr person having a legitimate interest. 
3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply even after the 
termination of the Community plant ";uiety right. 
Article 1 S 
Limitation of the use of variety denominations 
I. The holder may not use an~' right granted in respect 
of :l designation that is identicJI with thc variety 
denomination ro hamper the free use of that 
denomination in connection with the varicty, even after 
the' termination of the Community plant variety right. 
, :\ third party may use a right granted in respect of :l 
designation thJt is iJt:ntic~ll wih the variety denomination IP IN 11 IEEC/P 13 
Page 9 
~o L 227/8 OfficiJI journJI of the European Communities 1. 9. 94 
to hJmper the free lIse of that denomination only if that 
right was granted before the variety denomination was 
de5ignated purSUJnt to Article 63. 
3. \'('here a \'ariety is protected by a Community plant 
variety right or, in a '\1ember State or in a \lember of the 
International Union for the Protection of l"ew Varieties 
of Pbnts by a nation~d property right, neither its 
designated denomination or any designation \vhich might 
be confused \vith it can be used, within the territory of 
the Community, in connection with another variety of 
the same botanical species or a species regarded as related 
pursuant to the publication made in accordance with 
Article 63 (5), or for material of such variety. 
CHAPTER IV 
DURATION AND TERMINATION OF COMMUNITY 
PLANT VARIETY RIGHTS 
Article 19 
Duration of Community plant variety rights 
1. The term of the Community plant variety right shall 
run until the end of the 25th calendar year or, in the case 
of varieties of vine and tree species, until the end of the 
30th calendar year, following the year of grant. 
2. The Council, acting by qualified majority on 
proposal from the Commission,. may, in respect of 
specific genera or species, provide for an extension of 
these terms up to a further five years. 
3. A Community plant variety right shall lapse before 
the expiry of the terms laid down in paragraph 1 or 
pursuant to paragraph 2, if the holder surrenders it by 
sending a written declaration to such effect to the Office, 
and with effect from the day following the day on which 
the declaration is received by the Office. 
Article 20 
Nullity of Community plant variety rights 
1. The Office shall declare the Community planr 
\',Hiet)" right null and \'oid if it is established: 
(,1) that the conditions biJ down in Articles 7 or 10 
were not complied with at the time of the 
Community plant \'ariety right; or 
(h) that where the grant of the Community plant nriety 
right has been essentially bJsed upon informJtion 
and documents furnished by the applicanr, the 
conditions bid down in Articles 8 and 9 were not complied with at [he time of the grant of the right; 
or 
(c) that the right has been granted to a person who is 
not entitled to it, unless it is transferred to the 
person who is so entitled. 
2. \X'here the Community plant variety right IS 
declared null and void, it shall be deemed not to have 
had, as from the outset, the effects specified in this 
Regulation. 
Article 21 
Cancellation of Community plant variety rights 
1. The Office shall cancel the Community plant variety 
right with effect in futurum if it is established that the 
conditions laid down in Article 8 or 9 are no longer 
complied with. If it is established that these conditions 
were already no longer complied with from a point in 
time prior to cancellation, cancellation may be made 
effective as from that juncture. 
2. The Office may cancel a Community plant variety 
right with effect in futurum if the holder, after being 
requested to do so, and within a time limit specified by 
the Office: 
(a) has not fulfilled an obligation pursuant to 
Article 64 (3); or 
(b) in the case referred to in Article 66, does not 
propose another suitable variety denomination; or 
(c) fails to pay such fees as may be payable to keep the 
Community plant variety right in force; or 
(d) either as the initial holder or as a successor in title as 
a result of a transfer pursuant to ArtiGle 23, no 
longer satisfies the conditions laid down in 
Articles 12 and 82. 
CHAPTER V 
COMMUNITY PLANT VARIETY RIGHTS AS OBJECTS OF 
PROPERTY 
Artide 22 
Assimilation with national laws 
I. SJ\'e where otherwise provided in Articles 23 to 29, 
a Community plant \';uiety right as an object of property 
sh .. 111 be regarded in all respects, and for the entire 
territory of the Community, as a corresponding property 
right in the ~lember State in which: 
(a) according to the entry in the Register of Community 
Plant V,uiet)' Rights, the holder was domiciled or 
h,1(.i his scat or an establishment on the rde\'ant d,He; 
or IP 1Nl 1 IEEC/P 13 
Page 10 
l. 9. 94 Otficial Journal of the Eurore.1n Communities 0:0 L 227/9 
(h) if the conditions bid down in subparagraph (a) 3re 
not fulfilled, the first-mentioned procedural 
reprcsentari\'e of the holder, as indicated in the said 
Register, was domiciled or had his seat or an 
est~bli5hmcnt on the d:lte of registrJ.tion. 
I \\'here the conditions bid dO\\"l1 in p:uagraph 1 arc 
not fuliilled, the l\1ember StJte referred to in paragraph 1 
shall be the l\1ember State in wh.ich the seat of the Office 
is located. 
3. Where domiciles, seats or establishments in two or 
more l\lember States are entered in respect of the holder 
or the procedural representatives in the Register referred 
to in paragraph 1, the first-mentioned domicile or seat 
shall apply for the purposes of paragraph 1. 
4. \\lhere two or more persons are entered in the 
Register referred to in paragraph 1 as joint holders, the 
relevant holder for the purposes of applying 
paragraph 1 (a) shall be the first joint holder taken in 
order of entry in the Register who fulfils the conditions. 
Where none of the joint holders fulfils the conditions laid 
down in paragraph 1 (a), paragraph 2 shall be 
applicable. 
Article 23 
Transfer 
1. A Community plant variety right may be the object 
of a transfer to one or more successors in title. 
2. Transfer of a Community plant variety right by 
assignment can be made only to successors who comply 
with the conditions laid dov>'n in Article 12 and 82. It 
shall be made in writing and shall require the signature of 
the parties to the contract, except when it is a result of a 
judgement or of any other acts terminating court 
proceedings. Otherwise it shall be void. 
3. San? as otherwise provided in ;-\,rricle 100, a transfer 
shall ha\'e no bearing on the right~ acquired by third 
parries before the date of tr;lnsfcr. 
-L .-\ tr.1I1sfcr shall not take effect for the Office and 
n1.1\· not be cited z·is-.i-l'is third parries unless 
ll(lL:llIl1Cllt:1ry e\'idence thereof .1S provided for in the 
implementing rules is pro\'ided :1l1d until it has been 
entered in the Register of Community Plant Variety 
Ri~I1tS. A transfer that has nor vet been entered in the 
Re'gister 1113Y, however, b~ cited l'is-.i-l'is third parties 
\\'ho hJ\'e ;lI:l)uired rights after the d.ne of transfer bur 
\\'Ih) kne\\" of the tr.lOsfrr at the d,He on \\'hid1 they 
,lcqllired those rights. Article 2.J 
Levy of execution 
:\ Community plant \'.Hiety right may be le\'ied in 
execution and he the subject of provisional, including 
~~rotecti\'c, meJsures within the meaning of Article 24 of 
the Convention on jurisdiction and the Enforcement of 
judgments in Ci\'i1 and Commercial l\latters, signed in 
Lugano on 16 September 1988, hereinafter referred to as 
the 'Lugano Convention', 
Article 25 
Bankruptcy or like proceedings 
Until such time as common rules for the Member States 
in this field enter into force, the only Member State in 
which a Community plant variety right may be involved 
in bankruptcy or like proceedings sh31l be that in which 
such proceedings are first brought within the meaning of 
national law or of conventions applicable in this field. 
Article 26 
The application for a Community plant variety right as 
an object of property 
Articles 22 to 25 shall apply to applications for 
Community plant variety rights. Concerning such 
applications, the references made in those Articles to the 
Register of Community Plant Variety Rights shall be 
regarded as references to the Register of Application for 
Community Plant Variety Rights. 
Article 27 
Contractual exploitation rights 
1. Community plant variety rights may form in full or 
in part the subject of contractually granted exploitation 
rights. Exploitation rights may be exclusive or 
non-exclusive. 
2. The holder may invoke the rights conferred by the 
Community plant variety right against a person enjoying 
the right of cxploit3tion who contravenes any of the 
conditions or limitations attached to his exploitation 
right pursuant to paragraph 1. 
Article 2S 
joint holdership 
Articles 22 to 27 shall apply 11111t,1ti5 11111t.7I1dis in the 
e\'ent of joint holdership of a Community plant variety 
right in proportion to the resrective share held, where 
Sllo.:h ~hares h;lw been determined. IP 1Nl 1 IEEC/P 13 
Page 11 
0Jo L227/10 Official Journal of the Europe,m COll1l11ul1itiL's 1. 9. 94 
Article 29 
Compulsory exploitation right 
1. Compulsory exploitJtion rights shall be granted to 
one or more persons by the Office, on application by that 
person or those persons, but only on grounds of public 
interest and after consulting the Administrative Council 
referred to in Article 36. 
2. On application by a Member State, by the 
Commission or by an organization set up at Community 
level and registered by the Commission, a compulsory 
exploitation right may be granted, either to a category of 
persons satisfying specific requirements, or to anyone in 
one or more Member States or throughout the 
Community. It may be granted only on grounds of public 
interest and with the approval of the Administrative 
Council. 
3. The Office shall, when granting the compulsory 
exploitation right, stipulate the type of acts covered and 
specify the reasonable conditions pertaining thereto as 
well as . the specific requirements referred to in 
paragraph 2. The reasonable -conditions shall take into 
account the interests of any holder of plant variety rights 
who would be affected by the grant of the compulsory 
exploitation right. The reasonable conditions may include 
a possible time limitation, the payment of an appropriate royalty as equitable remuneration to the holder, and m~ly 
impose certain obligations on the holder, the fulfilment of 
which are necessary to make use of the compulsory 
exploiution right. 
4. On the expiry of eJch one-year period after the 
grant of the compulsory exploitation right and within the 
aforementioned possible time limitation. any of the 
parties to proceedings may request that the decision on 
the grant of the con.lpulsory exploitation right be 
cancelled or amended. The sole grounds for such a 
request shall be tlut the circumstances determining the 
decision taken have in the meantime undergone change. 
5. On application, the compulsory exploitation right 
shall be granted to the holder in respect of an essentially 
derived variety if the criteria set out in paragraph 1 are 
met. The reasonable conditions referred to in 
paragraph 3 shall include the payment of an appropriate 
royalty as equitable remuneration to the holder of the 
initial variety. 
6. The implementing rules pursuant to Article 114 
may specify certain cases as examples of public interest 
referred to in paragraph 1 and moreover lay down details 
for the implementation of the provisions of the above 
paragraphs. 
7. Compulsory exploitation rights may not be granted 
by Member States in respect of a Community plant 
variety right. 
PART THREE 
THE COMMUNITY PLANT VARIETY OFFICE 
CHAPTER I 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
Article 30 
Legal status, sub-offices 
1. The Office shall be a body of the Community. It 
shall have legal personality. 
2. In each of the Member Stares, the Office shall enjoy 
the most extensive legal capacity accorded to legal 
persons under their laws. It may, in parricular, acquire or 
dispose of movable and immO\'able property and ma~' be 
a p.1[ty to legal proceedings. 
3. The Office shall be represented by irs President. 
4. With the consent of the Administrative Council 
referred to in Article 36, the Office may entrust nation~ll 
agencies with the exercise of specific administrati\'e 
functions of the Office or establish its o\\'n sub-offices for 
that purpose in the ~lember States, subject to their 
consent. Article 31 
Staff 
1. The Staff Regulations of Officials of the European 
Communities, the Conditions of Employment of Other 
Sen'ants of the European Communities and the rules 
adopted jointly by the institutions of the European 
Communities for purposes of the application of those 
Staff Regulations and Conditions of Employment shall 
apply to the staff of the Office, without prejudice to the 
application of Article 47 to the members of the Board of 
Appeal. 
.., \,\'irhollt prejudi.:e to Article 43, the powers 
conferred on the appointing authorit:-· by the St.1ff 
Regulations, and by the Conditions of Employment of 
Other Servants, sh.111 be exercised by the Offi.:e in respect 
of its O\\ln st.1ff, 
Article 32 
Privileges and immunities 
The Protocol on the Pri"i1eges and Immllniries of rhe 
FUWpl'.ln Commllnitie~ slull apply to the Office. IP/N/lIEEC/P/3 
Page 12 
1. 9. 94 Offici;:)1 Journal of the European Communities Ko L 227111 
Article 33 
Liability 
1. The contr;:)ctllal liability of the Office shall be 
govcrned by the law applicable to the contract In 
qucstion. 
2. The Court of Justice of the European Communities 
shall have jurisdiction to give judgment pursuant to any 
arbitration clause contained in a contract concluded by 
the Office. 
3. In the case of non-contractual liability, the Office 
shall, in accordance with the general principles common 
to the laws of the Member States, make good any 
damage caused by its departments or by its servants in 
the performance of their duties. 
4. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction in 
disputes relating to compensation for the damage referred 
to in paragraph 3. 
5. The personal liability of its servants towards the 
Office shall be governed by the provisions laid down in 
the Staff Regulations or Conditions of Employment 
applicable to them. . 
Article 34 
Languages 
1. The provIsions laid down in Regulation No 1 of 
15 April 1958 determining the languages to be used in 
the European Economic Community (I), shall apply 
regarding the Office. 
2. Applications to the Office, the documents required 
to process such applications and all other papers 
submitted shall be filed in one of the official languages of 
the European Communities. 
3. Parties to proceedings before the Office as specified 
in the implementing rules pursuant to Article 114, shall 
be entitled, to conduct written and oral proceedings in 
any official langulge of the European Communities with 
translation and, in the case of hearings, simultaneous 
interpretation, at least into any other of the official 
Lmgu.1ges of the European Communities chosen by any 
other pcuty to proceedings. The exercise of these rights 
Jot's not imply specific charges for the parties to 
proceedings. 
4. The translation services required for the functioning 
of the Office are in principle provided by the Translation 
Centre of the Bodies of the Union. 
(I) OJ 0:0 17, 6. 10. 1958, p. 385/58. Rcgul.Hion as Lm 
amel1dcJ by the 1985 A(r oi A((eSSiul1. Article 35 
Decisions of the Office 
1. Decisions of the Office shall, provided they do not 
have to be made by the Board of Appeal pursuant to 
Article 72, be taken by or under the authority of the 
President of the Office. 
2. Subject to paragraph 1, decisions pursuant to 
Articles 20, 21, 29, 59,61,62,63,66 or 100 (2) shall be 
taken by a Committee of three members of the Office's 
staff. The qualifications of the members of such 
Committee, the powers of individual members in the 
preparatory phase of the decisions, the voting conditions 
and the role of the President in respect of such 
Committee shall be determined in the implementing rules 
pursuant to Article 114. Otherwise, the members of such 
Committee, in making their decisions, shall not be bound 
by any instructions. 
3. Decisions of die President, other than those 
specified in paragraph 2, if not taken by the President, 
may be taken by a member of the Office's staff to whom 
the power to do so has been delegated pursuant to 
Article 42 (2) (h). 
CHAPTER II 
TIlE ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL 
Article 36 
Creation and powers 
1. An Administrative Council is hereby set up, 
attached to the Office. In addition to the powers assigned 
to the Administrative Council by other provisions of this 
Regulation, or by the prOVISions referred to in 
Articles 113 and 114, it shall have the powers in relation 
to the Office defined below: 
(a) It shall advise on matters for which the Office is 
responsible, or issue general guidelines in this 
respect. 
(b) It shall examine the management report of the 
President, and shall moreover monitor the Office's 
activities, on the basis of that examination and any 
other information obtained. 
(c) It shall, on a proposal from the Office, either 
determine the number of Committees referred to in 
Article 35, the work allocation and the duration of 
their respective function, or issue general guidelines 
in this respect. 
(d) It may establish rules on working methods of the 
Office. 
(e) It may Issue test guidelines pursuant to 
Article 56 (2). IP IN I l/EEC/P/3 
Page 13 
0Jo L227112 OfficiJI Journal of the European Communities 1. 9. 94 
2. .\loreover the AdministrJtive Council: 
may deliver opinions to, and require information 
from the Office or the Commission, where it 
considers th3.t this is necessary, 
may forward to the Commission, with or without 
amendments, the drafts pbced before it pursuant to 
Article 42 (2) (g), or its own draft amendments to this 
Regulation, to the prOVISions referred to in 
Articles 113 and 114 or to any other rules relating to 
Community plant variety rights, 
-shall be consulted pursuant to Articles 113 (4) and 
114 (2), 
shall carry out its functions relating the Office's 
budget pursuant to Articles 109, 111 and 112. 
Article 37 
Composition 
1. The Administrative Council shall be composed of 
one representative of each Member State and one 
represe~ta'tive of the Commission and their alternates. 
2. The members of the Administrative Council may, 
subject to the provisions of its rules of procedure, be 
assisted by advisers or experts. 
Article 38 
Chairmanship 
1. The Administrative Council shall elect a Chairman 
and a Deputy Chairman from among its members. The 
Deputy Chairman shall ex officio replace the Chairman 
in the event of him being prevented from attending to his 
duties. 
2. The terms of office of the Chairman or Deputy 
Chairman shall expire when their respective membership 
of the Administrative Council ceases. Without prejudice 
to this provision, the duration of the terms of office of 
the Chairman or Deputy Chairman shall be three years, 
unless another Chairman or Deputy Chairman have been 
elected before the end of this period. The terms of office 
shall be renewable. 
Article 39 
Meetings 
1. .\leetings of the Administrative Council shall be 
convened by its Chairman. 
2. The President of the Office shall take p:Ht in the 
deliberations, unless the Administr3.tive Council decides 
otherwise. He shall not h3.\'e the right to vore. 3. The Administrative Council shall hold an ordinary 
meeting once a year; in addition, it shall meet on the 
initiative of its Chairman or at the request of the 
Commission or of one-third of the Member States. 
4. It shall adopt rules of procedure, and may set up, in 
accordance with these rules, Committees placed under its 
authority. 
5. The Administrative Council may invite observers to 
attend its meetings. 
6. The secretariat for the Administrative Council shall 
be provided by the Office. 
Article 40 
Place of meetings 
The Administrative Council shall meet at the seat of the 
Commission, or at the location of the Office or of an 
Examination Office. The details shall be determined in 
the rules of procedure. 
Article 41 
Voting 
1. The Administrative Council shall take its decisions, 
other than those referred to in paragraph 2, by a simple 
majority of the representatives of the Member States. 
2. The majority of three quarters of the representatives 
of the Member States shall be required for the decisions 
which the Administrative Council is empowered to take 
under Articles 12 (1) (b), 29, 36 (1) (a), (b), (d) and (e), 
43, 47, 109 (3) and 112. 
3. Each Member State shall have one vote. 
4. The decisions of the Administrative Council shall 
have'no binding force within the meaning of Article 189 
of the Treaty. 
CHAPTER III 
MANAGE~{ENT OF ruE OFFICE 
Artide 42 
Functions and powers of the President 
1. The Office shall be managed by the President. 
2. To this end, the President shall have, in particular, 
the following functions and po\vers: 
(a) The President shall take all necessary steps, including 
the adoption of internal administrative instructions 
and the publications of notices, to ensure the 
functioning of the Office in accordance with the 
provisions of this Regulation, with those referred to 
in Articles 113 and 114, or with the rules 
established, or guidelines issued, by the 
Administrative Council pursuant to Article 36 (1). IP IN 11 IEEC/P/3 
Page 14 
1. 9. 94 Official Journal of the Europe:m Communities 1'0 L 227113 
(b) He shall submit a management report to the 
Commission and Administrative Council each year. 
(c) He shall exercise in respect of the staff the powers 
laid down in Article 31 (2). 
(d) He shall submit proposals as referred to in Article 
36 (1) (c) and 47 (2). 
(c) He shall draw up estimates of the revenue and 
expenditure of the Office pursuant to 
Article 109 (1), and shall implement the budget 
pursuant to Article 110. 
(f) He shall supply information as required by the 
Administrative Council pursuant to Article 36 (2), 
first indent. 
(g) He may place before the Administrative Council 
draft amendments to this Regulation, to the 
provisions referred to in Articles 113 and 114 or to 
any other rules relating to Community plant variety 
rights. 
(h) He may delegate his powers to other members of the 
Office's staff, and subject to the provisions referred 
to in Articles 113 and 114. 
3. The President shall be assisted by one or more 
Vice-Presidents. If the President is absent or indisposed, 
the Vice~President or one of the Vice-Presidents shall take 
his place in accordance with the procedure laid down in 
the rules established, or the guidelines issued, by the 
Administrative Council pursuant to Article 36 (1). 
Article 43 
Appointment of senior officials 
1. The President of the Office shall be appointed by 
the Council from a list of candidates which shall be 
proposed by the Commission after obtaining the opinion 
of the Administrative Council. Power to dismiss the 
President shall lie with the Council, acting on a proposal 
from the Commission after obtaining the opinion of the 
Administrative Council. 
2. The term of office of the President shall not exceed 
five years. This term of office shall be renewa ble. 
3. The Vice-President or Vice-Presidents of the Office 
sh.ll1 be appointed or dismissed as in paragraphs 1 and 2, 
after consultation of the President. 
4. The Council shall exercise disciplin~1rY authority 
oyer the officials referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3. 
Article 44 
Control of legality 
1. The Commission shall control rhe leg.llity of those 
.1ctS of rhe President in respect of which Community Ia\\' does not provide for any control on legality by another 
body, and of the acts of the Administrative Council 
relating to the Office's budgcr. 
2. The Commission shall require that any unlawful act 
referred to in paragraph 1 be altered or annulled. 
3. Member States, any member of the Administrative 
Council or any other persons direcrly and personally 
involved may refer to the Commission any act referred to 
in paragraph 1, whether express or implied, to examine 
the legality of that act. Referral shall be made to the 
Commission within two months of the day on which the 
party concerned became aware of the act in question. The 
Commission shall take and communicate a decision 
within t\vo months. 
CHAPTER IV 
THE BOARDS OF APPEAL 
Article 45 
Establishment and powers 
1. There shall be established within the Office one or 
more Boards of Appeal. 
2. The Board or Boards of Appeal shall be responsible 
for deciding on appeals from the decisions referred to in 
Article 67. 
3. The Board or Boards of Appeal shall be convened 
as necessary. The number of Boards of Appeal and the 
work allocation shall be determined in the implementing 
rules pursuant to Article 114. 
Article 46 
Composition of the Boards of Appeal 
1. A Board of Appeal shall consist of a Chairman and 
two other members. 
2. The Chairman shall select for each case the other 
members and their respective alternates from the list of 
qualified members established pursu;:mt to 
Article 47 (2). 
3. \X'here the Board of Appeal considers that the 
nature of the appeal so requires, it may GIll up to two 
further members from the aforesaid list for that case. 
4. The qualifications required for the members of each 
Board of Appeal, the powers of individual members in 
the preparatory phase of the decisions and the voting JP IN 11 IEEC/P 13 
Page 15 
~o L 227/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 1. 9. 94 
conditions shall be determined in the implementing rules 
pursuant to Article 114. 
Article 47 
Independence of the members of the Boards of Appeal 
1. The Chairmen of the Boards of Appeal and their 
respective alternates shall be appointed by the Council 
from a list of candidates for each chairman and each 
alternate which shall be proposed by the Commission 
after obtaining the opinion of the Administrative Council. 
The term of office shall be five years. It shall be 
renewable. 
2. The other members of the Boards of Appeal shall be 
those selected pursuant to Article 46 (2), from a list of 
qualified members established on a proposal from the 
Office, for a term of five years, by the Administrative 
Council. The list shall be established for a term of five 
years. This shall be renewable for whole or part of the 
list. 
3. The members of the Board of Appeal shall be 
. independent. in making their decisions they shall not be 
. bound by any instructions. 
4. The members of the Boards 'of Appeal may not be 
members of the Committees referred to in Article 35 nor 
perform any other duties in the Office. The function of 
the members of the Boards of Appeal may be a part-time 
function. 
5. The members of the Boards of Appeal may not be 
removed from office nor from the list respectively, during 
the respective term, unless there are serious grounds for such removal and the Court of Justice of the European 
Communities, on application by the Commission after 
obtaining the opinion of the Administrative Council takes 
a decision to this effecr. 
Article 48 
Exclusion and objection 
1. Members of the Boards of Appeal may not take 
part in any appeal proceedings if they have any personal 
interest therein, or if they have previously been involved 
as representatives of one of the parties to proceedings, or 
if they participated in the decision under appeal. 
2. If, for one of the reasons mentioned in paragraph 1 
or for any other reason, a member of a Board of Appeal 
considers that he should not take part in any appeal 
proceedings, he shall inform the Board of Appeal 
accordingly. 
3. Members of the Boards of Appeal may be objected 
to by any party to the appeal proceedings for one of the 
reasons mentioned in paragraph 1, or if suspected of 
partiality. An objection shall not be admissible if, while 
being aware of a reason for objecting; the party to the 
appeal proceedings has taken a procedural step. No 
objection may be based on the nationality of members. 
4. The Boards of Appeal shall decide as to the action 
to be taken in the cases specified in paragraphs 2 and 3 
without the participation of the member concerned. For 
the purposes of taking this decision, the member who 
withdraws or has been objected to shall be replaced in 
the Board of Appeal by his alternate. 
PART FOUR 
PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE OFFICE 
CHAPTER I 
APPLICATIONS 
Article 49 
Filing of applications 
1. An application for a Community plant variety right 
shall be filed at the choice of the applicant: 
(a) at the Office directly; or 
(b) at one of the sub-offices or national agencies, 
established or entrusted, pursuant to Article 30 (4), 
subject to the applicant forwarding an information on this filing to the Office directly within two weeks after 
filing. 
Details on the manner in which the information referred 
to in (b) above must be forwarded, may be laid down in 
the implementing rules pursuant to Article 114. The 
omission of forwarding information on an application to 
the Office pursuant to (b) above, does not affect the 
validity of the application if the application has reached 
the Office within onc month after filing at the sub-office 
or national agency. 
2. \X'here the application is filed at one of the national 
agencies referred to in paragraph 1 (b), the national 
agency shall take all steps to forward the application to 
the Office within two weeks after filing. National 
agencies may charge the appliclnt a fee which shall not 
exceed the administrative costS of rccelv1l1g and 
forwarding the application. IP/N 11 IEEC/P/3 
Page 16 
I. 9. 94 Official Journ,lI of the Europe;ll1 Communities ~o L 227115 
Article 50 
Conditions governing applications 
I. The applicltion for a Communit), plant \':uiety right 
must contain at least the follo\\'ing: 
(.1) a request for the grant of a Community plant \'ariety 
right; 
(b) identification of the botanical taxon; 
(c) information identifying the applicant or, where 
appropriate, the joint applicants; 
(d) the name of the breeder and an assurance that, to 
the best of the applicants knowledge, no further 
persons have been involved in the breeding, or 
discovery and development, of the variety; if the 
applicant is not the breeder, or not the only breeder, 
he shall provide the relevant documentary evidence 
as to how the entitlement to the Community plant 
variety right came into' his possession; 
(e) a provisional designation for the variety; 
(f) a technical description of the variety; 
(g) the geographic origin of the variety; 
(h) the credentials of any procedural representative; 
(i) details of any previous commercialization of the 
variety; 
(j) details of any other application made in respect of 
the variety. 
2. Details of the conditions referred to in paragraph 1, 
including the provision of further information, may be 
laid down in the implementing rules pursuant to 
Article 114. 
3. An application shall propose a variety denomination 
which may accompany the application. 
Article 51 
Date of application 
The date of application for a Community plant variety 
right shall be the date on which a valid application was 
received by the Office pursuant to Article 49 (1) (a) or by 
a sub-office or national agency pursuant to Article 
49 (1) (b), pro\'ided it complies with Article 50 (1) and 
sul'ject to p~lyl11Cnt of the fees due pursuant to . .l..rtic!e 83 
within a time limit specified by the Office. 
Article 52 
The right of priority 
1. The right of priority of an applicHion Sh;ll1 be 
determined by the date of receipt of the applicHion. 
\\'here applications have the 5.1nlL' date of applic.Hion, the priorities thereof shall be determined according to the 
order in which they were received, if this can be 
established. Otherwise they shall have the same priority. 
2. If the applicant or his predecessor in title has 
already applied for a rroperty right for the variety in a 
'\1ember State or in a ~lcmber of the International Union 
for the Protection of :-':ew Varieties of Plants, and the 
date of application is within 12 months of the filing of 
the earlier application, me applicant shall enjoy a right of 
priority for the earlier application as regards the 
application for the Community plant variety right, 
provided the earlier application still exists on the date of 
application. 
3. The right of priority shall have the effect that the 
date on which the earlier application was filed shall count 
as the date of application for the Community plant 
variety right for the purposes of Articles 7, 10 and 11. 
4. Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall also apply in respect of 
earlier applications that were filed in another Member 
State, provided the conditions set out in 
Article 12 (1 ) (b), second sentence, is mer regarding this 
State on the date of application for the Community plant 
variety right. 
5. Any claim for a right of priority earlier than that 
provided for in paragraph 2 shall lapse if the applicant 
does not submit to the Office within three months of the 
date of application copies of the earlier application that 
have been certified by the authorities responsible for such 
application. If the earlier application has not been made 
in one of the official languages of the European 
Communities, the Office may require, in addition, a 
translation of the earlier application in one of these 
languages. 
CHAPTER 11 
EXAMINA nON 
Article 53 
Formal examination of application 
1. The Office shall examine whether: 
(a) the application has effectively been filed pursuant to 
Article 49; 
(h) the application complies with the conditions !aid 
down in Article 50 and the conditions laid down in 
the implementing rules pursuant to that Article; 
(c) where appropri:ne, a claim for priority complies with 
the provision bid down in Article 52 (2), (4) and (5); 
and 
(d) the fees due pursuant to Article 83 have been paid 
within a time limit specified by the Office. 
2. If the application, although complying with the 
conditions referred to in Article 51, does not comply with IP/N/1/EEC/P/3 
Page 17 
~o L 227116 OfficiJI Journal of the European C:omIl1unitie':> 1. 9. 94 
other conditions bid dO\\ll in Article 50, the Office shall 
gi\·e the applicant an opportunity to correct any 
deficiencies that m,1Y ha\·e heen identified. 
3. If the application does not comply with the 
conditions referred to in Article 51, the Office sh,111 
inform the applicant thereof, or, where this is not 
possible, publish the information pursuant to Article 89. 
Article 54 
Substantive examination 
1. The Office shall examine \vhether the variety may 
be the object of a Community plant variety right 
pursuant to Article 5, whether the variety is new 
pursuant to Article 10, \vhether the applicant is entitled 
to file an application pursuant to Article 12 and whether 
the conditions laid down in Article 82 are complied with. 
The Office shall also examine whether the proposed 
variety denomination is· suitable pursuant to Article 63. 
For such purposes, it may avail itself of the services of 
other bodies. 
2. The first applicant shall be deemed to be entitled to 
the Community plant variety right pursuant to Article 11. 
This shall not apply if, before .a decision on the 
application is taken, the Office is aware, or it is shown 
by a final judgment delivered with regard to a claim for 
entitlement pursuant to Article 98 (4), that entitlement is 
not or is not solely vested in the first applicant. Where 
the identity of the sole or other person entitled has been 
determjned, the person or persons may enter the 
proceedings as applicant or applicants. 
Article 55 
Technical examination 
1. Where the Office has not discovered any 
impediment to the grant of a Community plant variety 
right on the basis of the examination pursuant to 
Articles 53 and 54, it shall arrange for the technical 
examination rebting to compliance with the conditions 
bid down in Articles 7, 8 and 9 to be carried out by the 
competent office or offices in at Icast one of the ~lember 
St,Hes entrusted with responsibility for the technical 
examination of varieties of the species concerned by the 
Adminisrrati,·c Council, hereafter referred to as the 
'Examination Office or Offices'. 
1 \'\·here no Examination Office is a\·<1i1able, the 
Office may, with the consent of the Administrati\·e 
Council, entrust other <lppropriJte Jgencies with 
r~sponsibility therefore or est;lblish its own sub-offices 
for the S;1n1e purposes. For the purpose of the provisions 
of this Chapter, such agencies or sub-offices sh<lll be 
considered as Examination Offices. They may avail 
themselves of bcilities made <1\"aibble by the applicant. 
~ 
-) . The Office shall forwarJ to the Examination 
OHices copies of the application as required under the 
implementing ruks pursu;lnr to Article 114. 4. The Office shall determine, through general rules or 
through requests in indl\·idual CJses, when, where and in 
\\·hat quantities and qualities the material for the 
technical cXJminJtion and reference samples are to he 
submitted. 
5. \Vhcre the applic<1nr n1.1kes a ciJim for priority 
pursuant to Article 52 (2) or (4), he shall suhmit the 
necessary material and any further documents requircd 
within two years of the date of application pursuanr to 
Article 51. If the earlier application is withdrawn or 
refused before the expiry of two years, the Office may 
require the applicant to submit the material or any 
further documents \vithin a specified time limit. 
Article 56 
The conduct of technical examinations 
1. Unless a different manner of technical examination 
relaring to compliance with the conditions laid down in 
Articles 7 to 9 has been arranged, the Examination 
Offices shall, for the purposes of the technical 
examinatiQn, grow the variety or undertake any other 
investigations required. 
2. The conduct of any technical examinations shall be 
in accordance with test guidelines issued by the 
Administrative Council and any instructions given by the 
Office. 
3. For the purposes of the technical examination, the 
Examination Offices may, with the approval of the 
Office, avail themselves of the services of other 
technically qualified bodies and take into account the 
available findings of such bodies. 
4. Each Examination Office shall begin the technical 
examination, unless the Office has otherwise provided, 
no later than on the date on which a technical 
examination would have begun on the basis of an 
application for a national property right filed on the date 
on which the application sent by the Office was received 
by the Examination Office. 
5. In the case of Article 55 (5), each Examination 
Office shall begin the technical examination, unless the 
Office has otherwise provided, no bter than on the date 
on which an examination would have begun on the basis 
of an application for a national propert)~ right. p[()\·ided 
the necessary m;]teri~ll and any further documents 
required were submitted at that d;lte. 
6. The Administrati\·e COLlllcil ma~· determine that thl' 
tcchnical examination for \"aril.'ties of \·ine ;l1ld trec 
specics may begin :.H :1 hta date. 
Article 57 
Examination reports 
I. The Examination Office sh;lll, ;It the request of the 
Office or if it deeIlls the resul(~ of the tl·(hlli(.ll IP 1Nl 1 IEEC/P 13 
Page 18 
1. l) 94 Offici:t1 Journ:tl of the EuropeJn Communities :\'0 L 227/17 
cxamin;nion to be adequate to evaluate the variety, send 
the Office an examination report, and, \vhere it considers 
th.1t the conditions bid down in Articles 7 to 9 arc 
complied with, a description of the variety. 
J The Office shall communicate the results of the 
t\.'chnicai examinations and the variety description to the 
.1~~plicant and shall give him an opportunity to comment 
rhcn:on. 
.3. \X'here the Office does not consider the examination 
report to constitute a sufficient basis for decision, it may 
pro .... ide of its own motion, after consultation of the 
applicant, or on request of the applicant for 
complementary examination. For the purposes of 
assessment of the results, an)" complementary 
examination carried our until a decision taken pursuant 
to Articles 61 and 62 becomes final shall be considered to 
be part of the examination referred to in Article 56 (1). 
4. The results of the technical examination shall be 
subject to the exclusive rights of disposal of the Office 
and may only otherwise be used by the Examination 
Offices in so far as this is approved by the Office. 
Article 58 
Costs of technical examinations 
The Office shall pay the Examination Offices a fee in 
accordance with the implementing rules pursuant to 
Article 114. 
Article 59 
Objections to grant of right 
1. Any person may lodge with the Office a written 
objection to the grant O'f a Community plant variety 
right. 
2. Objectors shall be party to the proceedings for 
grant of the Community plant variety right in addition to 
the applicant. Without prejudice to Article 88, objectors 
shall have access to the documents, including the results 
of the technical examination and the variety description 
JS referred to in Article 57 (2). 
3. Objections may be based only on the contention 
th~H: 
(.1) the conditions bid down in Articles 7 to 11 are not 
complied \\'ith; 
(b) there is ;In impediment under Article 63 (3) or (4) to 
a pr:oposed variety denomination. 
4. Objections may be lodged: 
(.1) ;1t any timc :lfter the applicuion :lnd prior to :I 
dl?cision pursuant to Artidcs 61 or 62, in the c:lse of 
pMagraph 3 (a) hereof; (b) within three months of the publication of the 
proposed variety denomination pursuant to 
Article 89, in th.? case of objections under 
paragraph 3 (b) hereof. 
5. The decisions on objections l11:1y he tJken together 
with the decisions pursuant to Arricks 61, 62 or 63. 
Article 60 
Priority of a new application in the case of objections 
Where an objection on the grounds that the conditions 
laid down in Article 11 are not met leads to the 
withdrawal or refusal of the application for a 
Community plant variety right and if the objector files an 
application for a Community plant variety right within 
one month following the withdrawal or within one 
month of the date on which the refusal becomes final in 
respect of the same variety, he may require that the date 
of the withdrawn or refused application be deemed to be 
the date of his application. 
CHAPTER III 
DECISIONS 
Article 61 
Refusal 
1. The Office shall refuse applications for a 
Community plant variety right if and as soon as it 
establishes that the applicant: 
(a) has not remedied any deficiencies within the meaning 
of Article 53 which he was given an opportunity to 
correct within the time limit notified to him; 
(b) has not complied with a rule or request pursuant to 
Article 55 (4) or (5) within the time limit laid down, 
unless the Office has consented to non-submission; 
or 
(c) has not proposed a variety denomination which is 
suitable pursuant to Article 63. 
2. The Office shall also refuse applications for a 
Community plant variety right if: 
(a) it establishes that the conditions it is required to 
verify pursuant to Artidc 54 h'1\'e not been fulfilled: 
or 
(h) it re'1\.:hes the opInIon on the b;lSis of the 
examination reports pursuant to Article 57, dut the 
conditions bid down in .\rticles 7, 8 and 9 ha\'e not 
been fulfilled. 
Artidt! 61 
Grant 
If the Office is of the opInIon that the findings of the 
e".:;lmilution are suffiLient to decide on the application IP IN 11 IEEC/P 13 
Page 19 
0:0 l227/18 OfficIJI journJI of the EuropcJn Communities 1. 9. 94 
Jnd there are no impediments purSllJnt to Articles 59 
Jnd 61, it shall grant the Community plant variety right. 
The decision shJII include an official description of the 
\·ariety. 
Article: 63 
Variety denomination 
1. Where a Community plant variety right is granted, 
the Office shall approve, for the variety in question, the 
variety denomination proposed by the applicant pursuant 
to Article 50 (3), if it considers, on the basis of the 
examination made pursuant to the second sentence of 
Article 54 (1), that this denomination is suitable. 
2. A variety denomination is suitable, if there is no 
impediment pursuant to paragraphs 3 or 4 of this 
Article. 
3. There is an impediment for the designation of a 
variety denomination where: 
(a) its use in the territoryot the Community IS precluded 
by the prior right of a third party; 
(b) it may commonly cause its users difficulties as 
regards recognition or reproduction; 
(c) it is identical or may be confused with a variety 
denomination under which another variety of the 
same or of a closely related species is entered in an 
official register of plant varieties or under \vhich 
material of another variety has been marketed in a 
Member State or in a ~lember of the International 
Unit for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, 
unless the other variety no longer remains in 
existence and its denomination has acquired no 
special significance; 
(d) it is identical or may be confused with other 
designations which are commonly used for the 
marketing of goods or which have to be kept free 
under other legislation; 
(e) it is liable to gi\'e offence in one of the ~lember 
States or is contrary to public policy; 
(0 it is liable to misleJd or to CJuse confusion 
concerning the charJcteristics, the value or the 
identity of the vJriety, or the idenrity of the breeder 
or any other party to proceedings. 
4. There is another impediment where, in the case of a 
variety which has already been entered: 
(a) in one of the Member StJ.tes; or 
(b) in J ~lember of the InrernatiolUl Union for the 
Protection of l'ew Varieties of Plants; or (c) in Jl10ther Sute for which it has been estJblished in 
a Communitv act that varieties are evaluated there 
under rules \~'hich arc equivalent to those laid down 
in the Directives on common catalogues; 
ill an official register of pbnt varieties or material thereof 
Jnd has peen m,uketed there for commercial purposes, 
and the proposed \'Jriet)' denomination differs from that 
which has been registered or used there, unless the latter 
one is the object of an impediment pursuant to 
paragraph 3. 
5. The Office shall publish the species which it 
considers 'closely related' within the meanlllg of 
paragraph 3 (c). 
CHAPTER IV 
THE MAINTENANCE OF COMMUNITY PLANT VARIETY 
RIGHTS 
Article 64 
Technical verification 
1. The Office shall verify the continuing existence 
unaltered of the protected varieties. 
2. For this purpose, a technical verification shall be 
carried out pursuant to Articles 55 and 56. 
3. The holder shall be required to provide all the 
information necessary to assess the continuing existence 
unaltered of the variety to the Office and to the 
Examination Offices to which technical verification of the 
variety has been entrusted. He shall be required, in 
accordance with the instructions given by the Office, to 
submit material of the variety and to permit to verify 
whether appropriate measures have been taken to ensure 
the continuing existence unaltered of the variety. 
Article 65 
Report on the technical verification 
1. At the request of the Office, or if it establishes that 
the vJriety is not uniform or stJble, the Examination 
Office entrusted with the technical verification shall send 
the Office a report on its findings. 
2. If any deficiencies pursuant to paragraph 1 have 
been found during the technical verification, the Office 
shall inform the holder of the results of the technical 
\'l'rification and shall give him an opportunity to 
comment thereon. 
Article 66 
Amendment of the variety denomination 
1. The Ofiice shall ~lmend J varicty dL'nomination 
d\.'siputcd purSll~lnt to .-\rticle 63 if it establishes th~H the IP IN 11 IEEC/P 13 
Page 20 
I. 9. 94 Official Journal of the European Communities 
denomination does not satisfy, or no longer satisfies, the 
conditions laid do\vn in Article 63 and in the event of a 
prior conflicting right of a third party, if the holder 
agrees to the amendment or the holder or any other 
person required to use the \'ariety denomination has been 
prohibited, by a final judgment, for this reason from 
llsing the variety denomination. 
/ The Office shall give the holder an opportunity to 
propose an amended variety denomination and shall 
proceed in accordance with Article 63. 
3. Objections may be lodged against the proposed 
amended variety denomination in accordance with 
Article 59 (3) (b). 
CHAPTER V 
APPEALS 
Article 67 
Decisions subject to appeal 
1. An appeal shall lie from decisions of the Office 
which have been taken pursuant to Articles 20, 21, 59, 
61, 62, 63 and 66, as well as on decisions related to fees 
pursuant to Article 83, to costs pursuant to Article 85, to 
the entering or deletion of information in the Register 
pursuant to Article 87 and to the public inspection 
pursuant to Article 88. 
2. An appeal lodged pursuant to paragraph 1 shall 
have suspensory effect. The Office may, however, if it 
considers that circumstances so require, order that the 
contested decision not be suspended. 
3. An appeal may lie from decisions of the Office 
pursuant to Articles 29 and 100 (2), unless a direct 
appeal is lodged pursuant to Article 74. The appeal shall 
not have suspensory effect. 
4. An appeal against a decision which does not 
terminate proceedings as regards one of the parties may 
only be made in conjunction with an appeal against the 
final decision, unless the decision provides for separate 
appeal. 
Article 68 
Persons cntitled to appeal and [0 bc parties to appeal 
proceedings 
.-\I1Y natural or legal person may appeal, subject to 
Article 82, against a decision, addressed to that person, 
or against a decision which, although in the form of a 
decision addressed to anorher person, is of direct and 
individual concern to the former. The parties to 
pnKeedings mJY, and the Office shall, be party to the 
appeal proceedings. Article 69 
Time limit and form 
:0;otice of appeal shall be filed in writing at the Office 
within two months of the service of the decision \vhere 
addressed to the appealing person, or, in the absence 
thereof, within two months of the publication of the 
decision, and a written statement setting out the grounds 
of appeal shall be filed within four months after the 
aforesaid service or publication. 
Article 70 
Interlocutory revision 
1. If the body of the Office which has prepared the 
decision considers the appeal to be admissible and well 
founded, the Office shall rectify the decision. This shall 
not apply where the appellant is opposed by another 
party to the appeal proceedings. 
2. If the decision is not rectified within one month 
after receipt of the statement of grounds, for the appeal, 
the Office shall forthwith: 
decide whether it will take an action pursuant to 
Article 67 (2), second sentence, and 
-remit the appeal to the Board of Appeal. 
Article 71 
Examination of appeals 
1. If the appeal is admissible, the Board of Appeal 
shall examine whether the appeal is well-founded. 
2. When examining the appeal, the Board of Appeal 
shall as often as necessary invite the parties to the appeal 
proceedings to file observations on notifications issued by 
itself or on communications from the other parties to the 
appeal proceedings within specified time limits. Parties to 
the appeal proceedings shall be entitled to make oral 
representations. 
Article 72 
Decision on appeal 
The Board of Appeal shall decide on the appeal on the 
basis of the examination carried our pursuant to 
Article 71. The Board of Appeal may exercise any power 
which lies within the competence of the Office, or it may 
remit the case to the competent body of the Office for 
further action. The latter one shall, in so far as the factS 
are the same, be bound by the r.aio decidendi of the 
Board of Appeal. . IP 1Nl lIEEC/P 13 
Page 21 
~o L 227120 Official Journal of the European Communities 1. 9. 94 
Article 73 
Further appeal 
1. A further a ppea I to the Court of Justice of the 
European Communities shall lie from decisions of the 
Board of Appeal. 
2. The further appeal may be lodged on grounds of 
lack of competence, infringement of an essential 
procedural requirement, infringement of the Treaty, of 
this Regulation, or of any rule of law relating to their 
application or misuse of power. 
3. The further appeal may be made by any party to 
the appeal proceedings who is adversely affected by its 
decision, or by the Commission or the Office. 
4. The further appeal shall be lodged with the Court 
of Justice within two months of service of the decision of 
the Board of Appeal. 
5. If the Court of Justice remits the case for further 
action to the Board of Appeal, the Board shall, in so far 
as the facts are the same, be bound by the ratio decidendi 
of the Court of Justice. 
A.rticle 74 
Direct appeal 
1. A direct· appeal to the Court of Justice of the 
European Communities may lie from decisions of the 
Office pursuant to Articles 29 and 100 (2). 
2. The provisions laid down in Article 73 shall apply 
mutatis mutandis. 
CHAPTER VI 
MISCELLANEOUS CONDmONS GOVERNING 
PROCEEDINGS 
Article 75 
Statement of grounds on which decisions are based, right 
of audience 
Decisions of the Office shall be accompanied by 
statements of the grounds on which they are based. They 
shall be based only on grounds or evidence on which the 
parties to proceedings have had an opportunity to present 
their comments orally or in writing. 
Article 76 
Examination of the facts by the Office of its own 
motion 
In proceedings before it the Office shall make 
investigations on the facts of its own motion, to the extent that they come under the examination pursuant to 
Articles 54 and 55. It shall disregard facts or items of 
evidence which have not been submitted within the time 
limit set by the Office. 
Article 77 
Oral proceedings 
1. Oral proceedings shall be held either on the 
initiative of the Office itself or at the request of any of 
the parties to proceedings. 
2. Without prejudice to paragraph 3, oral proceedings 
before the Office shall not be public. 
3. Oral proceedings before the Board of Appeal 
including delivery of the decision, shall be public in so far 
as the Board of Appeal before which the proceedings are 
taking place does not decide otherwise in circumstances 
where serious and unwarranted disadvantages could arise 
from admitting the public, particularly for any of the 
parties to the appeal proceedings. 
Article 78 
Taking of evidence 
1. In any proceedings before the Office, the means of 
giving or obtaining evidence may include the following: 
(a) hearing the parties to proceedings; 
(b) requests for information; 
(c) the production of documents or other evidence; 
(d) hearing the witnesses; 
(e) opinions by experts; 
(f) inspection; 
(g) sworn affidavits. 
2. Where the Office decides through a collective body, 
that body may commission one of its members to 
examine the evidence adduced. 
3. If the Office considers it necessary that a party to 
proceedings, witness or expert give evidence oLllly, it 
shall either: 
(3) issue a summons requlflng the relc\,~1nt person to 
appear before it; or 
(b) request the competent judicial or other authority in 
the country of domicile of the relevant person to 
take the evidence as provided for in Article 91 (2). 
4. A party to proceedings, witness or expert who is 
summoned before the OffiLe may request it to allow his IP/N/lIEEC/P/3 
Page 22 
1. 9. 94 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 227/21 
evidence to be heard by the competent judicial or other 
authority in his country of domicile. On receipt of sllch a 
request or in the case that no rcaction was given to the 
summons, the Office may, \0 accordance with 
Article 91 (2), request the competent judicial or other 
authority to hcar the evidcnce of that person. 
5. If a party to proceedings, \\'itness or expert givcs 
e\"idence before the Office, the Office may, if it considers 
it advisable that the evidence be givcn under oath or 
orherwise in binding form, request the competent judicial 
or other authority in the country of domicile of the 
relevant person to hear his evidence under the requisite 
conditions. 
6. \X'hen the Office requests a competent judicial or 
other authority to take evidence, it may request it to take 
the evidence in binding form and to permit a member of 
the Office to attend the hearing and question the party to 
proceedings, witness or expert either through that judicial 
or other authority or directly. 
Article 79 
Service 
The Office shall of its own morion eHect service of all 
decisions and summonses, and of notifications and 
. communications, from which a time limit is reckoned, or 
which are required to be served either in pursuance of 
other provisions of this Regulation or by provisions 
adopted pursuant to this Regulation or by order of the 
President of the Office. Service may be effected through 
the competent variety offices of the Member States. 
Article 80 
Restitutio in integrum 
1. Where, in spite of having taken all due care in the 
particular circumstances, the applicant for a Community 
plant variety right or the holder or any other party to 
proceedings before the Office has been unable to observe 
a time limit vis-dol/is the Office, his rights shall, upon 
application, be restored if his failure to respect the time 
limit has resulted directly, by virtue of this Regulation, in 
the loss of any right or means of redress. 
2. Applications shall be filed in writing \vithin t\\"o 
months after the cause of non-compli:lOce when the time 
limit h3s ceased to operate. The act omitted sll3lI be 
completed \vithin this period. .-\pplications shall be 
admissible only \vithin the period of onc year follO\ving 
the expiry of the time limit which has not been 
observed. 
3. An application shall be accompanied by :l statement 
of the grounds on which it is based and the faCtS on 
which it relies. 4. The provisions of this Article shall nor apply to the 
time limits referred to in paragraph 2 nor to the rime 
limits specified in Article 52 (2), (4) and (5). 
5. Any person who, in a :'lember State, has in good 
faith used or made effective and genuine arrangements to 
lIse a variety which is the subject of a published 
application for grant of a Community plant variety right, 
or of a Community plant variety right that has been 
granted, in the course of a period between the loss of 
rights pursuant to paragraph 1 in respect of the 
application or of a Community plant variety right that 
has been granted and the restoration of those rights, may 
without payment continue such use in the course of his 
business or for the needs thereof. 
Article 81 
General principles 
1. In the absence of procedural provisions m this 
Regulation or in provisions adopted pursuant to this 
Regulation, the Office shall apply -the principles of 
procedural law which are generally recognized in the 
Member States. 
2. Article 48 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the staff 
of the Office in so far as it is involved in decisions of the 
kind referred to in Article 67, and to the staff of the 
Examination Offices, in so far as it participates m 
measures for the preparation of such decisions. 
Article 82 
Procedural representative 
Persons who are not domiciled or do not have a seat or 
an establishment within the territory of the Community 
may participate as party to proceedings before the Office 
only if they have designated a procedural representative 
who is domiciled or has his seat or an establishment 
within the territory of the Community. 
CHAPTER VII 
FEES. SE1TLE~lE:-';T OF COSTS 
Article 83 
Fees 
1. The Office shall charge fees for its offici;}l acts 
provided for under this Regui.1rion as well as for each 
year of the duration of a Community plant variety right, 
pursuant to the fees regulations adopted in accordance 
with Article 113. 
2. If fees due in respect of the official acts set out in 
Article 113 (2) or of other ofiici,1l acts referred to in the IP IN 11 IEEC/P/3 
Page 23 
No L227/22 Official Journal of the European Communities 1. 9. 94 
fees regulations, which are only to be carried out on 
application, are not paid, the application shall be deemed 
not to have been filled or the appeal not to have been 
lodged if the acts necessary for the payment of the fees 
have not been effected within one month of the date on 
which the Office served a new request for payment of 
fees and indicated in so doing these consequences of 
failure to pay. 
3. If certain information provided by the applicant for 
grant of a Community plant variety right can only be 
verified by a technical examination which goes beyond 
the framework established for the technical examination 
of varieties of the taxon concerned, the fees for the 
technical examination may be increased, after having 
heard the person liable to pay the fees, up to the amount 
of the expenditure actually incurred. 
4. In the case of a successful appeal, the appeal fees or, 
in case of a partial success, the corresponding part of the 
appeal fees, shall be refunded. However, the refund can 
be fully or partly refused if the success of the appeal is 
based on facts which were not available at the time of the 
original decision. 
Article 84 
Termination of financial obligations 
1. The Office's right to require payment of fees shall 
lapse after four years from the end of the ca lender year in 
which the fees became due for payment. 
2. Rights against the Office for the refunding of fees 
or of sums overcharged by the Office shall lapse after 
four years from the end of the calendar year in which the 
rights arose. 
3. A request for payment of a fee shall have the effect 
of interrupting the time limit specified in paragraph 1, 
and a written and reasoned claim for refund shall have 
the effect of interrupting the time limit specified in 
paragraph 2. After interruption the time limit shall begin 
to run again immediately and shall terminate at the latest 
six years after the end of the calendar year in which it 
originally commenced, unless judicial proceedings to 
enforce the right have been instituted in the meantime; in 
that case the time limit shall end not earlier than one year 
after the judgment has acquired the authority of a final 
decision. 
Article 85 
Apportionment of costs 
1. The losing party to proceedings for revocation or 
cancellation of a Community plant variety right, or to 
appeal proceedings shall bear the COStS incurred by the 
other party to proceedings as well as all costs incurred by him essential to the proceedings, including travel and 
subsistence and the remuneration of an agent, adviser or 
advocate, within the limits of the scales set for each 
category of costs under the conditions laid down in the 
implementing rules pursuant to Article 114. 
2. However, \vhere each party to proceedings succeeds 
on some and fails on other heads, or if reasons of equity 
so dictate, the Office or Board of Appeal shall decide a 
different apportionment of costs. 
3. The party to proceedings who terminates the 
proceedings by withdrawing the application for a 
Community plant variety right, the application for 
revocation or cancellation of rights, or the appeal, or by 
surrendering the Community plant variety rights, shall 
bear the costs incurred by the other party to proceedings 
as stipulated in paragraphs 1 and 2. 
4. Where the parties to proceedings conclude before 
the Office, or Board of Appeal a· settlement of costs 
differing from that provided for in the preceding 
paragraphs, note shall be taken of that agreement. 
5. On request, the Office or Board of Appeal shall 
determine the amount of the costs to be paid pursuant to 
the preceding paragraphs. 
Article 86 
Enforcement of decisions which determine the amount of 
costs 
1. Final decisions of the Office which determine the 
amount of costs shall be enforceable. 
2. Enforcement shall be governed by the rules of civil 
procedure applicable in the Member State in which it 
takes place. Subject only to verification that the relevant 
document is authentic, the enforcement clause or 
endorsement shall be appended by the national authority 
appointed for that purpose by the Government of each 
Member State; the Governments shall inform the Office 
and the Court of Justice of the European Communities of 
the identity of each such national authority. 
3. When, upon application by the party seeking 
enforcement, these formalities have been completed, it 
shall be entitled to proceed to endorsement under 
national law by bringing the matter directly before the 
competent body. 
4. Enforcement shall not be suspended except by 
decision of the Court of Justice of the European 
Communities. Control as to the regularity of enforcement 
measures shall, however, reside with the national courts. IP IN I l/EEC/P/3 
Page 24 
I. 9. q4 Oiiicial Journal of the Europe"n Communities ~o L 227123 
CHAPTER VIII 
REGISTERS 
Article 87 
Establishment of the Registers 
1. The Office shall keep a Register of Applications for 
Community Plant Variety Rights which shall contain the 
following particulars: 
(a) applications for a Community plant variety right 
together with a statement of the taxon and the 
provisional designation of the variety, the date of 
application and the name and address of the 
applicant, of the breeder and of any procedural 
representative concerned; 
(b) any cases of termination of proceedings concerning 
applications for a Community plant variety right 
together with the information set out 111 
subparagraph (a); 
(c) proposals for variety denominations; 
(d) changes in the identity of the applicant or his 
procedural representative; . 
(e) on request, any levy of execution as referred to m 
Articles 24 and 26. 
2. The Office shall keep a Register of Community 
Plant Variety Rights wherein, after grant of a Community 
plant variety right, the following particulars shall be 
entered: 
(a) the species and variety denomination of the variety; 
(b) the official description of the variety or a reference 
to documents in the Office's possession in which the 
official description of the variety is contained as 
integrating part of the Register; 
(c) in the case of varieties for which material with 
specific components has to be used repeatedly for the 
production of material, a reference to such 
components; 
(d) the name and address of the holder, of the breeder 
and of any procedural representative concerned; 
(e) the date on \vhich the Community plant variety right 
begins and ends, tOgether with the reasons for the 
termin~ltion of right; 
(f) on request, any conrractllJI exclusi\'e exploit<1tion 
right or compulsory exploitation right, including the 
name and address of the person enjoying the right of 
exploit3 tion; 
(g) on request, any le\')' of execution as referred to in 
Article 24; 
(h) where the holder of 3n initial variety and the breeder 
of a variet.,.. essenriJllv derived from the initial variety 
both so re'quest, the 'identification of the varieties a's 
initial and essentially derived including the varil,ty denominations and the names of the p:uties 
concerned. A request from one of the parties 
concerned only shall suffice if he has 6bt3ined either 
a non-contentious acknowledgement by the other 
party purSU3nt to Article 99 or a final decision or a 
final judgment purSll,lnt to the provisions of this 
Regulation which conrain an identification of the 
varieties concerned as iniri31 :lnd essentially derived. 
3. Any other particular or any condition for the 
entering in both Registers may be specified in the 
implementing rules pursuant to Article 114. 
4. The Office may of its own motion and upon 
consultation with the holder adapt the official variety 
description in respect of the number -and type of 
characteristics or of the specified expressions of those 
characteristics, when necessary, in the light of the current 
principles governing the description of varieties of the 
taxon concerned, in order to render the description of the 
variety comparable with the descriptions of other 
varieties of the taxon concerned. 
Article 88 
Public inspection 
1. The Registers mentioned in Article 87 shall be open 
to public inspection. 
2. In case of a legitimate interest, the following shall 
be open to public inspection, in accordance with the 
conditions set up in the implementing rules pursuant to 
Article 114: 
(a) documents relating to applications for grant of a 
Community plant variety right; 
(b) documents relating to Community plant variety 
rights already granted; 
(c) the growing of varieties for the purposes of their 
technical examination; 
(d) the growing of varieties for the purpose of verifying 
their continuing existence. 
3. In the case of varieties for which material with 
specific components has to be used repeatedly for the 
production of material, at the request of the applicant for 
a Community plant variety right, all data relating to 
components, including their cultivation, shall be withheld 
from inspection. Such a request for withholding from 
inspection may not be filed once the decision on the 
application for grant of a Community plant \'ariety right 
h,1S been taken. 
4. :"bterials submitted or obtained in connection with 
examinations under Articles 55 (4), 56 and 64 may not 
be given to other parries by the competent authorities 
under this Regulation unless the person entitled gives his 
consent or such transfer is required in connection with 
the cooperation covered by this Regulation for the 
purposes of the examinJtion or by virtue of legal 
provisions. JP 1Nl 1 IEEC/P/3 
Page 25 
0:"0 L 227124 Official Journal of the European Communities 1. 9. 94 
Article 89 
Periodical publications 
The Office shall at least every t\\"o months, Issue a 
publication containing the information entered into the 
Registers pursuant to Article 87 (1) and (2) (a), (d), (e), 
(0, (g) and (h), and not yet published. The Office shall 
also publish an annual report, containing information 
which the Office regards as expedient, but at least a list 
of valid Community plant variety rights, their holders, 
the dates of grant and expiry and the approved variety 
denominations. Details of these publications shall be 
specified by the Administrative Council. 
Article 90 
Exchange of information and of publications 
1. The Office and the competent variety offices of the 
Member States shall, on request and without prejudice to 
the conditions set up for 'the sending of results of 
technical examinations, dispatch to' each other for their 
own use, free of charge, one or more copies of. their . 
respective publications and any other useful information 
relating to property rights applied for or granted. 
2. The data referred to in Article 88 (3) shall be 
excluded from information, unless: (a) the information is necessary for the conduct of the 
examinations pursuant to Articles 55 and 64; or 
(b) the applicant for a Community pbnt variety right or 
the holder gives his consent. 
Article 91 
Administrative and legal cooperation 
1. Unless otherwise provided in this Regulation or in 
national law, the Office, Examination Offices referred to 
in Article 55 (1) and the courts or authorities of the 
Member States shall on request give assistance to each 
other by communicating information or opening files 
related to the variety, and samples or growing thereof for 
inspection. Where the Office and the Examination Offices 
lay files, samples or growing thereof open to inspection 
by courts or public prosecutors' offices, the inspection 
shall not be subject to the restrictions laid down in 
Article 88, and the inspection given by the Examination 
Offices shall not be subject to a decision of the Office 
pursuant to that Article. 
2. Upon receipt of letters rogatory from the Office, the 
courts or other competent authorities of the Member 
States shall undertake on behalf of that Office and within 
the limits of their jurisdiction, any necessary enquiries or 
other related measures. 
PART FIVE 
IMPACT ON OTHER LAWS 
Article 92 
Cumulative protection prohibited 
1. Any variety which is the subject matter of a Community plant variety right shall not 
be the subject of a national plant variety right or any patent for that variety. Any rights 
granted contrary to the first sentence shall be ineffective. 
2. Where the holder has been granted another right as referred to in parJgraph 1 for 
the same variety prior to grant of the Community plant variety right, he shall be unable 
to invoke the rights conferred by such protection for the variety for as long as the 
Community plant variety right remains effecti\·e. 
Article 93 
Application of national law 
Claims under Community plant variety rights shall be suhject to limitations imposed by 
the Ltw of the ~lember States only as expressly referred to in this Regulation. IP 1Nl l/EEC/P/3 
Page 26 
1. 9. 94 Official Journ,lI of the Europc;lll Communities Ko L 227/25 
PART SIX 
CIVIL LAW CLAIMS, INFRIN"GEMENTS, JURISDICTION" 
Article 9-1 
Infringement 
1. \X'hosoever: 
(a) effects one of the acts set our in Article 13 (2) 
without being entitled to do so, in respect of a 
variety for which a Community plant variety right 
h;ls been granted; or 
(b) omits the correct usage of a variety denomination as 
referred to in Article 17 (1) or omits the relevant 
information as referred to in Article 17 (2); or 
(c) contrary to Article 18 (3) uses the variety 
denomination of a variety for which a Community 
plant variety right has been granted or a designation 
that may be confused with it; 
may be sued by the holder to enjoin such infringement or 
to pay reasoriable compensation or both. . 
2. \Vhosoever acts intentionally or negligently shall 
moreover be liable to compensate the holder for any 
further damage resulting from the act in question. In 
cases of slight negligence, such claims may be reduced 
according to the degree of such slight negligence, but not 
however to the extent that they are less than the 
advantage derived therefrom by the person who 
committed the infringement. 
Article 95 
Acts prior to grant of Community plant variety rights 
The holder may require reasonable compensation from 
any person who has, in the time between p~blication of 
the application for a Community plant variety right and 
gr~1nt thereof, effected an act that he would be prohibited 
from performing subsequent thereto. 
Article 96 
Prescription 
Cl.1irns pursuant to Articles 94 and 95 shall be time 
b.Hred after three yea~s from the time at which the 
Community plant variety right has fil1Jll), been granted 
~1Od the holder has knowledge of the act and of the 
identity of the party liable or, in the absence of such 
knowledge, after 30 years from the termination of the act 
(on.::erneJ. Artidc 97 
Supplementary application of national law regarding 
infringement 
1. Where the party liable pursuant to Article 94 has, 
by virtue of the infringement, made any gain at the 
expense of the holder or of a person entitled to 
exploitation rights, the COUrtS competent pursuant to 
Articles 101 or 102 shall apply their narional law, 
including their private international law, as regards 
restitution. 
2. Paragraph 1 shall also apply as regards other claims 
that may arise in respect of the performance or omission 
of acts pursuant to Article 95 in the time between 
publication of the application for grant of a Community 
plant variety right and the disposal of the request. 
3. In all other respects the effects of Community plant 
variety rights shall be determined solely in accordance 
with this Regulation. 
Article 98 
Claiming entitlement to a Community plant variety 
right 
1. If a Community plant variety right has been granted 
to a person who is not entitled to it under Article 11, the 
person entitled to it may, without prejudice to any other 
remedy which may be open to him under the laws of the 
Member States, claim to have the Community plant 
variety right transferred to him. 
2. Where a person ist entitled to only part of a 
Community plant variety right, that person may, in 
accordance with paragraph 1, claim to be made a joint 
holder. 
3. Claims pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 may be 
invoked only within a period of up to five years of 
publication of the grant of the Community plant variety 
right. This provision shall not apply if the holder knew, 
at the time it was granted to or acquired by him, that he 
was not entitled to such rights or that entitlement thereto 
was nor vested solely in him. 
4. The person entitled shall be eligible mlftatis 
11tltt.7Ildis to pursue claims pursuant to p:.uagrJphs 1 and 
2 in respect of an application for grant of a Community 
plant variety right filed by a person who WJS not entitled 
to it or whom the entitlement was nor vested solely. 
Article 99 
Obtaining identification of a variety 
The holder of an initial variety and the breeder of a 
vMiety essenti.llly derived from the initial variety sll3II be IP IN I l/EEC/P 13 
Page 27 
~o L227126 Official Journ:11 of the European Communities 1. 9. 94 
entitled to obtain an acknowledgement of the 
identification of the varieties concerned as initial and 
essentially derived. 
Article 100 
Consequences of a change in holdership of a Community 
plant variety right 
1. In the event of a complete change in the holdership 
of a Community plant variety right in consequence of a 
final judgment delivered pursuant to Articles 101 or 102 
for the purposes of claiming entitlement under Article 98 
(1), any exploitation or other rights shall lapse with the 
entry of the person entitled in the Register of Community 
Plant Variety Rights. 
2. Where the holder or a person enjoying the right of 
exploitation has effected one of the acts set out in 
Article 13 (2) or has made effective and genuine 
arrangements to do so prior to the commencement of the 
proceedings pursuant to Articles 101 or 102, he may 
continue or perform such acts provided he requests a 
non-exclusive exploitation right from the new holder 
entered in the Register of Community Plant Variety 
Rights. Such requests must be made within the time limit 
laid down in the implementing rules. The exploitation 
right may be granted by the Office in the absence of an 
agreement between the parties. Article 29 (3) to (7) shall 
apply mutatis mutandis. 
3. Paragraph 2 shall not apply where the holder or 
persons enjoying the right of exploitation acted in bad 
faith when they effected the acts or began to make the 
arrangements. 
Article 101 
Jurisdiction and procedure in legal actions relating to civil 
law claims 
1. The Lugano Convention as well as the 
complementary provIsIons of this Article and of 
Articles 102 to 106 of this Regulation shall apply to 
proceedings relating to actions in respect of the claims 
referred to in Articles 94 to 100. 
2. Proceedings of the type referred to in paragraph 1 
shall be brought in the COllrtS: 
(a) of the Member State or another Contracting Party to 
the Lugano Comenrion in which the defendant is 
domiciled or has his seat or, in the absence of such, 
has an establishment; or 
(b) if this condition is not met in any of the .\lember 
StJtes or Contracting Parties, of the .\Iembcr Sute in 
which the plaintiff is domiciled or has his seJt or, in 
the absence of such, has an establishment; or 
(c) if this condition is also not met in any of the 
.\lember States, of the ~lember Stares in which the 
st';1t of the Office is located. The competent COllrts shall have jurisdiction in respect of 
infringements alleged to ha\'e been committed in any of 
the ;\lember States. 
3. Proceedings relating to actions in respect of claims 
for infringement may also be brought in the courts for 
the place where the harmful event occured. In such cases, 
the court shall have jurisdiction only in respect of 
infringements alleged to have been committed in the 
territory of the .\lember State to which it belongs. 
4. The legal processes and the competent courts shall 
be those that operate under the laws of the State 
determined pursuant to paragraphs 2 or 3. 
Article 102 
Supplementary provisions 
1. Actions -for claiming entitlement pursuant to 
Article 98 of this Regulation shall not be considered to 
fall under the provisions of Article 5 (3) and (4) of the 
Lugano Convention. 
2. Notwithstanding Article 101 of this Regulation, 
Articles 5 (1), 17 and 18 of the Lugano Convention shall 
apply. 
3. ~ . For the purposes of applying Articles 101 and 102· 
of this Regulation, the domicile or seat of a party shall be 
determined pursuantto Articles 52 and 53 of the Lugano 
Convention. 
Article 103 
Rules of procedure applicable 
Where jurisdiction lies with national courts pursuant to 
Articles 101 and 102, the rules of procedure of the 
relevant State governing the same type of action relating 
to corresponding national property rights shall apply 
without prejudice to Articles 104 and 105. 
Article 104 
Entitlement to bring an action for infringement 
1. Actions for infringement may be brought by the 
holder. Persons enjoying exploitation rights may bring 
such actions .unless that has been expressly excluded by 
agreement with the holder in the case of an exclusi\'e 
exploitation right or by the Office pursuant to Articles 29 
or 100 (2). 
2. Any person enjoYll1g exploitation rights shall, for 
the purpose at obtaining compensation for damage 
suffered by him, be entitled to intervene in an 
infringement action brought by the holder. 
Article 105 
Obligation of national courts or other bodies 
r\ ILuional court or other body hearing an action rebting 
to a Community plant variety right shall treat the 
Communiry plant variety right as valid. IP/N/lIEEC/P/3 
Page 28 
1. 9. 94 Official jourr1J1 of the European Communities 0:0 L 227/27 
Article 106 
Stay of proceedings 
1. \\'here an action relates to claims pursuant to 
Article 98 (4) and the decision depends upon the 
protectability of the variety pursuant to Article 6, this 
decision may not be given before the Office has decided 
on the application for a Community plant variety right. 
2. Where an action relates to a Community plant 
variety right that has been granted and in respect of 
\vhich proceedings for revocation or cancellation 
pursuant to Articles 20 or 21 have been initiated, the 
proceedings may be stayed in so far as the decision depends upon the validity of the Community plant 
va riety right. 
Article 107 
Penalties for infringement of Community plant variety 
rights 
i\'1ember States shall take all appropriate measures to 
ensure that the same provisions are made applicable to 
penalize infringements of Community plant variety rights 
as apply in the matter of infringements of corresponding 
na tional rights. 
PART SEVEN 
BUDGET, FINANCIAL CONTROL, COMl\1UNITY IMPLEMENTING RULES 
Article 108 
Budget 
1. Estimates of all the Office's revenue and 
expenditure shall be prepared for each financial year and 
shall be shown in the Office's budget, and each financial 
year shall correspond with the calendar year. 
2. The revenue and expenditure shown in the budget 
shall be in balance .. 
3. Revenue shall comprise, without prejudice to other 
types of income, total fees payable pursuant to Article 83 
under the fees regulations referred to in Article 113, and, 
to the extent necessary, a subsidy from the general 
budget of the European Communities. 
4. Expenditure shall comprise, without prejudice to 
other types of expenditure, the fixed costs of the Office 
and the costs arIsmg from the Office's normal 
functioning, including sums payable to the Examination 
Offices. 
Article 109 
Preparation of the budget 
1. The President shall draw up each year an estimate 
ot the Office's revenue and expenditure for the following 
yt'~U and shall transmit it to the Administrative Council 
not bter than 31 i\brch each year, together with a list of 
posts and, where the estimate provides for a subsidy 
referred to in Article 108 (3), prefaced by an explanatory 
statement. 
.., Should the estimate provide for a subsidy referred 
tl.) in Article 108 (3), the Administr;1tive Council shall immediately forward the estimate to the Commission, 
together with the list of posts and the explanatory 
statement, and may attach its opinion. The Commission 
shall forward them to the budget authority of the 
Communities and may attach an opinion along with an 
alternative estimate. 
3. The Administrative Council shall adopt the budget, 
which shall include the Office's list of posts. Should the 
estimate contain a subsidy referred to in Article 108 (3), 
the budget shall, if necessary, be adjusted to the 
appropriations in the general budget of the European 
Communities. 
Article 110 
Implementation of the budget 
The President shall implement the Office's budget. 
Article 111 
Control 
1. Control of commitment and payment of all 
expenditure and control of the existence and recovery of 
all revenue of the Office shall be carried out by the 
financial controller appointed by the Administr;1tive 
Council. 
2. 0:ot later than 31 i\brch each year the President 
shall transmit to the Commission, the Administrative 
Council and the Court of Auditors of the European 
Communities accounts of the Office's total revenue and 
expenditure for the preceding financial year. The COllrt 
of Auditors shall examine them in accordance with 
relevant provisions applicable to the gener;:li budget of 
the European Communities. IP 1Nl 1 IEEC/P 13 
Page 29 
~o L 227128 Oftici.11 Journal of the European Communities 1. 9. 94 
3. The Administrative Council shall give a discharge to 
the President of the Office In respect at the 
implementation of the budget. 
Article 112 
Financial provisions 
The Administrative Council shall, after consulting the 
Court of Auditors, adopt internal financial provisions 
specifying, in particular, the procedure for establishing 
and implementing the Office's budget. The financial 
provisions must, as far as possible, correspond to the 
provisions of the Financial Regulation applicable to the 
general budget of the European Communities and depart 
from them only when the specific requirements of the 
individual operation of the Office so dictate. 
Article 113 
Fees regulations 
1. The fees regulations shall determine in particular 
the matters for which fees pursuant to Article 83 (1) are 
due, the amounts of the fees and the way' in which they 
are to be paid. 
2. Fees shall be charged for at least in respect of the 
following matters for: 
(a) the processing of applications for grant of a 
Community plant variety right; this fee shall cover: 
-the formal examination, (Article 53), 
-the substantive examination (Article 54), 
the examination of the variety denomination 
(Article 63), 
the decision (Articles 61, 62) 
the related publishing (Article 89); 
(b) the arranging and carrying out of the technical 
examination; 
(c) the processing of an appeal including the decision; 
(d) each year of the duration of a Community plant 
variety right. 
3. (a) Without prejudice to (b) and (c), the amounts of 
the fees shall be fixed at such a level as to ensure 
that the revenue in respect thereof is in principle 
sufficient for the budget of the Office to be 
balanced. 
(b) However, the subsidy referred to in Article 108 
(3) may cover, for a transitional period ending on 
31 December of the fourth year from the date 
laid do\vn in Article 118 (2), the expenditure 
relating to the initial running phase of the Office. 
In accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 115, this period may be extended, if 
necessary, for no more than one year. 
(c) Moreover, during the abovementioned 
transitional period only, the subsidy referred to in 
Article 108 (3) may also cover certain expenditure 
of the Office relating to certain activities other 
than the processing of applications, the arranging 
and carrying out of the technical examinations 
and the processing of appeals. These activities 
shall be specified, at the latest one year after the 
adoption of this Regulation, in implementing 
rules pursuant to Article 114. 
4. The fees regulations shall be adopted in accordance 
with the procedure laid down in Article 115, after 
consultation of the Administrative Council on the draft 
of the measures to be taken. 
Article 114 
Other implementing rules 
1. Detailed implementing rules shall be adopted for the 
purpose of applying this Regulation. They shall in 
particular include procisions: 
-defining the relationship between the Office and the 
Examination Offices, agencies or its own sub-offices 
referred to in Articles 30 (4) and 55 (1) and (2), 
-on matters referred to in Articles 36 (1) and 42 (2), 
-on the procedure of the Boards of Appeal. 
2. Without prejudice to Articles 112 and 113, all the 
implementing rules referred to in this Regulation shall be 
adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in 
Article 115, after consultation of the Administrative 
Council on the draft of the measures to be taken. 
Article 115 
Procedure 
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee 
composed of the representatives of the Member States 
and chaired by the representative of the Commission. 
2. \Vhere the procedure laid down in this Article is to 
be followed, the representative of the Commission shall 
submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be 
tJken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the 
draft, \vithin a time limit which the chairman may lay 
down according to the urgency of the matter. The 
opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in 
Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions 
which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal IP IN/lIEEC/P 13 
Page 30 
I. 9. 94 Official Journal of the European Communities ~o L 227/29 
from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of 
the ~lember States within the wmmittee shall be 
weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The 
chairman shall not vote. 
3. (J) The Commission shall adopt the measures 
envisaged if they are in accordance with the 
opinion of the committee. 
(b) If the measures envisaged are not in accordance 
with the opinion of the committee, or if no opinIOn is delivered, the Commission shall, 
without delay, submit to the Council a proposal 
relating to the measures to be taken. The Council 
shJII act by a qualified majority. 
If, on the expiry of a period of three months from the 
date of referral to the Council, the Council has not 
acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the 
Commission, save where the Council has decided 
against the said measures by a simple majority. 
PART EIGHT 
TRANSITIONAL AND FI~AL PROVISIONS 
Article 116 
Derogations 
1. Notwithstanding Article 10 (1) (a) and without 
prejudice to the provisions of Article 10 (2) and (3), a 
variety shall be deemed to be new also in cases where 
variety constituents or harvested material thereof have 
not been sold or otherwise disposed of ·to others, by or 
with the consent of the breeder, within the territory of 
the Community for purposes of exploitation of the 
variety, earlier than four years, in the case of trees or of 
vines earlier than six years, before the entry into force of 
this Regulation, if the date of application is within one 
year of that date. 
2. The provision of paragraph 1 shall apply to such 
varieties also in cases where a national plant variety right 
was granted in one or more Member States before the 
entry into force of this Regulation. 
3. Notwithstanding Articles 55 and 56, the technical 
examination of these varieties shall be carried out to the 
extent possible by the Office on ·the basis of the available 
findings resulting from an'y proceedings for the grant of a 
national plant variety right, in agreement with the 
authority before which these proceedings were held. 
4. In the case of a Community plant variety right 
granted pursuant to paragraphs 1 or 2: 
Article 13 (5) (a) shall not apply in relation to 
essentially derived varieties, the existence of which 
was a matter of common knowledge in the 
Community before the date of entry into force of this 
Regulation. 
Article 14 (3), fourth indent shall not apply to 
t.1rmers who continue to use an established variety in 
Jccordance with the authorization of Article 14 (1') if, 
before the entry into force of this Regulation, they 
have· already used the variety for the purposes 
described in Article 14 (1) without payment of a 
remuneration; this provision shall apply until 30 June 
of the sevend. /eaf following that of the entry into 
force of this Regulation. Before that d;.ne the 
Commission shall submit a report on the situation of 
the established v;Hieties dealing with each variety individually. That period may be extended, in the 
implementing provISIons adopted pursuant to 
Article 114, in so far as the Commission's report 
justifies it. 
-without prejudice to the rights conferred by national 
protection, the provisions of Article 16 shall apply 
mutatis mutandis to acts concerning material disposed 
of to others by the breeder or with his consent prior 
to the date of entry into force of this Regulation, and 
effected by person who, prior to that date, have 
already effected such acts or have made effective and 
genuine arrangements to do so. 
If such earlier acts have involved further propagation 
which was intended within the meaning of Article 16 
(a), the authorization of the holder shall be required 
for any further propagation after the expiry of the 
second year, in the case of varieties of vine and tree 
species after the expiry of the fourth year, following 
the date of entry into force of t~is Regulation. 
-Notwithstanding Article 19, the duration of the 
Community plant variety right shall be reduced by the 
longest period: 
during which variety constituents or harvested 
material thereof have been sold or otherwise 
disposed of to others, by or with the consent of 
the breeder, within the territory of the Community 
for purposes of exploitation of the variety, as 
established in the findings resulting from the 
procedure for the grant of the Community plant 
variety right, in the case of pa ragraph 1, 
during which any national plant variety right or 
rights have been effective, in the case of 
paragraph 2, 
but not more than by five years. 
Article 117 
Transitional provisions 
The Office shall be set up in good time to assume fully 
the tasks incumbent upon it pursuant to this Regulation 
as from 27 April 1995. 0Jo L 227/30 Official Journal of the European Communities 
Article 118 
Entry into force IP IN 11 IEEC/P 13 
Page 31 
1. This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official 
Journal of the Europe.m C01111111t1litics. 
2. Articles 1,2,3,5 to 29 and 49 to 106 shall apply from 27 April 1995. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member 
States. 
Done at Brussels, 27 July 1994. 
For the Council 
The President 
Th. WAIGEL 1. 9. 94 IP/N/1/EEC/P/3 
Page 32 
28. 10. 95 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 258/3 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2506/95 
of 25 October 1995 
amending Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 on Community plant variety rights 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Community. and in particular Article 235 thereof. 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission C). 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia­
ment e). 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social 
Committee C), 
Whereas Regulation (EC) No 21 00194 (~) creates a 
Community regime, co-existing with national regimes, 
which allows for the grant of industrial property rights 
valid throughout the Community; 
Whereas the implementation and application of the said 
Community regime are carried out by a Community 
Office with legal personality, known as the 'Community 
Plant Variety Office'; 
Whereas, considering the need to ensure coherence of the 
system of appeal procedures to the Community jurisdic­
tion in the different fields of industrial and commercial 
property, it is appropriate to align the rules on actions 
which may be brought against decisions of the Commun­
ity Plant Variety Office or its Boards of Appeal esta­
blished by Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 with those 
provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 of 
20 December 1993 on the Community Trade Mark (l); 
Whereas, under Council Decision 88/591/ECSC, EEC, 
Euratom of 24 October 1988 establishing a Court of First 
Instance of the European Communities (6). that Court 
shall exercise at the first instance the jurisdiction 
conferred on the Court of Justice by the Treaties establi­
shing the Communities -with particular regard to 
appeals lodged under the fourth subparagraph of 
Article 173 of the EC Treaty -and by the acts adopted 
in implementation thereof, save as otherwise provided in 
an act setting up a body governed by Community law; 
(') OJ No C 117, 12. 5. 1995. p. 10. 
e) OJ No C 269, 16. 10. 1995. 
(1) OJ No C 236. 11. 9. 1995. 
«) OJ No L 227, 1. 9. 1994. p. 1. 
(1 OJ No L 11, 14. 1. 1994, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Re­
gulation (EC) No 3288/94 (0) No L 349, 31. 12. 1994, p. 83). 
(6) 0) No L 319, 25. 11. 1988,. p. 1. (Corrigendum: OJ ~~ L 
241. 17. 8. 1989, p. 4). DeciSion as last amended by DeCISion 
94/149/ECSC, EC (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994. p. 29). whereas the jurisdiction which Regulation (EC) 
No 2100194 confers on the Court of Justice to annul or 
to alter decisions of the Boards of Appeal and, in specific 
cases, decisions of the Office shall accordingly be exer­
cised at the first instance by the Court mentioned above 
in accordance with the abovementioned Decision, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 is hereby amended 
as follows: 
1. Article 67 (3) is hereby amended as follows: 
-in the German version, 'direkte Beschwerde' shall 
be replaced by 'unmittelbare Klage', and 'eingelegt' 
shall be replaced by 'erhoben', 
in the English version. 'direct appeal' shall be 
replaced by 'direct action', and 'lodged' shall be 
replaced by 'brought'. 
2. Article 73 shall be replaced by the following: 
'Article 73 
Actions against decisions of the Boards of 
Appeal 
1. Actions may be brought before the Court of 
Justice against decisions of the Boards of Appeal on 
appeals. 
2. The action may be brought on grounds of lack of 
competence, infringement of an essential procedural 
requirement, infringement of the Treaty, of this Regu­
lation or of any rule of law relating to their application, 
or misuse of power. 
3. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction to 
annul or to alter the contested decision. 
4. The action shall be open to any party to appeal 
proceedings which has been unsuccessful. in whole or 
in part, in its submissions. 
5. The action shall be brought before the Court of 
Justice within two months of the date of service of the 
decision of the Board of Appeal. 
6. The Office shall be required to take the necessary 
measures to comply with the judgment of the Court of 
Justice.' IP 1Nl 1 IEEC/P 13 
Page 33 
No L 258/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 10. 95 
3. Article 74 is hereby amended as follows: 
in the German version, the title shall be replaced 
by 'Unmittelbare Klage' and paragraph 1 shall be 
replaced by the following: 
'1. Die Entscheidungen des Amtes nach Artikel 
29 und Artikel 100 Absatz 2 sind mit der unmittel­
baren Klage beim Gerichtshof anfechtbar.', 
-in the English version, the title shall be replaced by 
'Direct action', and in paragraph (1), 'A direct 
appeal to the Court of Justice of the European 
Communities may lie from' shall be replaced by 'A direct action may be brought before the Court of 
Justice against'. 
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day 
following its publication in the Official Journal of the 
European Communities. 
It shall apply from 27 April 1995. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member 
States. 
Done at Luxembourg, 25 October 1995. 
For the Council 
The President 
L. ATlENZA 