Plant Breeders' Rights Act, 2018 (Act No. 12 of 2018)RegulationsRegulations made in terms of the Plant Breeders' Rights ActVariety Denominations15. Denomination of variety |
| (1) | The applicant must propose a variety denomination in accordance to section 23 of the Act and such denomination must— |
| (a) | be suitable to identify the variety concerned; |
| (b) | be the same as submitted in all convention countries for the same variety; |
| (c) | be different from known denominations of any existing varieties of the same or a closely related kind of plant in any other country; |
| (d) | be in line with relevant international practices such as UPOV prescripts; |
| (e) | not be used more than once in the same variety denomination class. A list of the denomination classes is available from the office of the Registrar upon request; |
| (f) | not be such as to be liable to mislead or to lead to confusion concerning the characteristics, value, geographical origin, or identity of the variety in question or the identity of the breeder thereof; |
| (g) | subject to the provisions of sub regulation (2) not be identical with or similar to, or liable to lead to confusion with a mark which enjoys the protection accorded thereto by the Trade Marks Act, 1963 (Act No. 62 of 1963); and |
| (h) | not be against public order or contrary to morality. |
| (2) | Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in these regulations— |
| (a) | a mark referred to in sub-regulation (1)(g) may only be approved as a denomination for a variety if the applicant concerned submits documentary proof that the holder of the mark concerned renounces his or her right to such mark as from the date of filing an application for a plant breeder's right for the variety concerned; and |
| (b) | the denomination approved by the Registrar for a variety in respect of which protection has been granted, or an application for protection has been lodged with the appropriate authority in a convention country in accordance with the laws in force in that country, must be the same as the denomination thus protected or thus applied for in such country, on condition however that the provision of sub paragraph (a) is complied with and that a priority claim on such denomination is not proved by another person. |
| (3) | If the Registrar finds that a proposed denomination does not satisfy the requirements of sub regulation (1), the Registrar must within 14 days of receipt. If the application request the applicant in writing to propose an alternative denomination. |
| (4) | The applicant must within 30 days from the date of request propose an alternative denomination using Form 4A obtainable from the office of the Registrar. |
| (5) | The duly completed and signed form must be mailed, hand delivered or couriered to the office of the Registrar. |