News

On 3 November the Commission adopted a notice clarifying certain articles of Directive 98/44 on the protection of biotechnical inventions. The Directive focuses on patenting in the biotech industry. The notice states that products created through essential biological processes should be excluded from patentability. Furthermore, it calls for more analysis of compulsory cross licensing between plant variety rights and patenting. The Commission also expands on how the Directive ensures that there is enough fair access to patented material of biological origin. Although a Commission Notice is...

EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) and EPO (European Patent Office) have released a new study on the contribution of intellectual property rights to the EU economy.

The Administrative Council of the CPVO has adopted General Guidelines on the interpretation of the novelty requirement pursuant to Article 10 of Council Regulation (EC) 2100/94 on CPVR (the Basic Regulation). The purpose of the General Guidelines is to provide a uniform interpretation of the concept of sale to which reference is made under Article 10 of the Basic Regulation.

Download the AC General Guidelines .

On 1 July 2015, the TystofteFoundation took over the operation of the technical examinations concerning VCU and DUS testing, control plots and variety administration from the Danish AgriFish Agency. On the same day, the TystofteFoundation purchased the premises at Tystofte from the Danish state. This day marked a new chapter in the history of Danish variety testing.

Naktuinbouw - responsible for DUS testing of plant varieties for Plant Breeder’s Rights in the Netherlands, and on behalf of the European Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) - is organizing a Plant Variety Protection course on the implementation of the Plant Breeders' Rights system.

In this course, participants will learn about the consequences of this implementation and discuss the legal, institutional and technical aspects, as well as the exploitation of plant breeders rights.

The course will be held from 19 till 30 June 2017 in...