These rules, as laid down in the document ‘Guidelines of the Administrative Council on Article 63’ available on the website of the Office, are very important rules which are based on Article 63 of the Council Regulation on Community Plant Variety Rights.
The procedure for approval of a variety denomination follows different steps. When the Office receives a proposal for a variety denomination, this denomination is checked. If there is an impediment against this denomination the applicant is informed and has the possibility to comment or to submit a new proposal of a variety denomination. In case there is no impediment, it will be published in the Official Gazette. According to Article 59(4)(b) of the Council Regulation 2100/94, objections to the proposed variety denominations may be made within three months of their application. If neither an objection is received nor an observation from other examination authorities, the variety denomination is ready to be approved. This approval takes place at the same time as the decision to grant the title of protection. Once the denomination is approved and the variety is granted a right, this variety denomination MUST be used for all commercial purposes.
If a trademark is associated with the denomination, the variety denomination must be easily recognisable as such.