Angers, 11 November 2026 – The Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) have signed a ten-year extension of their bilateral Administrative Arrangement, ensuring the continuity of a long-standing partnership that brings together expertise in plant variety rights and patents to support innovation in Europe’s plant sector.
The ten-year extension ensures the continuity of a partnership established in 2016, supporting technical cooperation and information exchange on patents, plant variety rights and emerging developments in plant innovation.
The extension was signed on 10 November 2026 at the CPVO’s new headquarters in Angers, on the occasion of the building’s official inauguration. It was signed by Francesco Mattina, President of the CPVO, and Steve Rowan, Vice-President for the Patent Granting Process at the EPO, acting on behalf of the European Patent Office.
The document extends Administrative Arrangement No. 2022/01373 for a further ten years.
A decade of cooperation between two complementary intellectual property systems
The partnership between the CPVO and the EPO began on February 2016, when the two organisations signed an Administrative Arrangement to strengthen cooperation and information exchange in the fields of plant-related patents and plant variety rights.
A second Administrative Arrangement, was signed on March 2022 for a period of five years. It continued the cooperation through joint activities and the electronic provision of relevant CPVO documentation.
Since then, cooperation has developed through technical meetings, exchanges between specialists, training activities and access to documentation relevant to both intellectual property systems.
One practical aspect of the cooperation concerns the exchange of technical information on plant varieties. Under the implementation framework, non-confidential information contained in CPVO technical questionnaires and variety descriptions is made available electronically for inclusion in a searchable database accessible to the EPO. This information can be searched alongside patent documentation and supports the EPO’s examination work.
Five technical meetings were held during the five-year period covered by the current Arrangement. These meetings helped specialists from both organisations develop a better understanding of their respective practices and of the complementary roles of patents and plant variety rights in protecting plant innovation.
Addressing emerging developments in plant innovation
The renewed partnership provides a framework for continued dialogue on legal, technical and technological developments affecting intellectual property protection in the plant sector, including new genomic techniques.
As technologies and the European regulatory framework evolve, the interaction between patents and plant variety rights remains an important subject for plant breeders, researchers and other stakeholders.
The two organisations have exchanged views on patent protection issues, technical and legal aspects of plant variety protection, and related aspects including licensing and essentially derived varieties. Their fifth technical workshop, held in 2026, also considered the potential implications of the proposed EU regulatory framework for plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques.
The cooperation also encompasses exchanges on advanced technologies, including the use of artificial intelligence to support efficient and high-quality processing of European patent applications.
Supporting innovation and legal certainty
By extending their cooperation for a further ten years, the CPVO and the EPO reaffirm their commitment to maintaining constructive dialogue between two distinct but complementary intellectual property systems.
The partnership aims to strengthen mutual understanding, facilitate access to relevant technical information and contribute to informed discussions on the interaction between patents and plant variety rights.
For the CPVO, the Arrangement also reflects the importance of cooperation between European institutions and organisations in responding to the evolving needs of the plant breeding sector.
The signing, held during the inauguration of the CPVO’s new headquarters in Angers, marks a further chapter in a partnership that has developed over the past decade and will continue to support cooperation on plant innovation in Europe.
About the Community Plant Variety Office
The Community Plant Variety Office is a decentralised agency of the European Union based in Angers, France. It manages the Community Plant Variety Rights system, which grants intellectual property protection for new plant varieties through a single application resulting in a right valid throughout the European Union.