New Plant Varieties
Legal Basis
– Plant Variety Protection Act, 2020 (Act 1050), entry into force (Gazette Notification) December 29, 2020.
– Plant Variety Protection Regulations, 2022 (L.I.2463), entry into force November 29, 2022.
Membership in International Conventions
– WTO's TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.
– International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, since June 29, 2004.
– International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), since December 3, 2021.
Filing
Definition of variety: variety means a plant grouping within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank which grouping, irrespective of whether the conditions for the grant of a plant breeder right are fully met, can be (1) defined by the expression of the characteristics resulting from a given genotype or combination of genotypes; (2) distinguished from any other plant grouping by the expression of at least one of the characteristics that result from a given genotype or combination of genotypes; and (3) considered as a unit with regard to the suitability of the variety for being propagated unchanged.
Conditions of variety for protection: a variety is suitable for the purpose of the protection of the plant breeder if it is new, distinct, uniform and stable.
Eligibility to apply: where two or more persons have jointly bred or discovered the plant variety, they are both eligible to apply jointly for the plant breeder right. Where the variety is discovered or bred by a person in the execution of a commission or contract of employment, the employer or the one who commissioned the work has the right to apply except provided otherwise in the contract of employment. In the case the variety has been bred or discovered by separate persons independently of each other, the one who makes an application with an earlier prior date has the right to apply for the plant breeder right.
Applicant: may be a citizen or resident of Ghana, a foreign citizen or resident in the territory of a party to a treaty to which Ghana is a party, a legal entity that has a registered office within the territory of a party to a treaty to which Ghana is a party or a legal entity that has a registered office in Ghana.
Applicant not resident in the country: must be represented by a legal representative or agent (a person duly authorised by the breeder to act on behalf of the breeder) in the country.
Priority: may be claimed within a period of twelve months after the date on which the earliest application was filed (day of filing excluded).
Filing requirements for an application:
1. The name and address of the applicant;
2. The name and address of the person that bred or discovered and developed the variety if that person is different from the applicant;
3. The name and address of any agent or legal representative, where applicable;
4. The identification of the botanical taxon and the Latin or common name of the variety;
5. The generic designation proposed for the variety or a provisional designation;
6. A technical description of the variety;
7. The manner in which the plant variety was originated;
8. Where the application is made by a successor in title of the plant breeder, the title of the successor;
9. Where an application for plant variety protection in respect of the variety has been made or granted in any country other than Ghana: (i) the name of the country; and (ii) the date on which and the period for which plant variety protection in the plant variety were granted;
10. Whether priority is being claimed as a result of a preceding application made by the applicant in a Convention country or an agreement country;
11. If available, the reference number under which the plant variety is recorded and an original or a certified copy of the license contract, including all amendments and annexes, in any register of varieties kept by a recognized professional association or in any reference collection of plant material accepted by the Registrar;
12. Where the breeder or legal representative of the breeder sold or concurred in the sale of the plant variety within or outside Ghana, the date of the sale;
13. Where applicable, any request for exemption from compulsory licensing;
14. The manner in which the propagating material will be maintained;
15. The date on which the rights expired or were otherwise terminated or declared null and void, as the case may be;
16. A representative reference sample of a viable propagating material of the plant variety that is the subject of the application;
17. A technical report giving details of the characteristics of the plant variety for which protection is requested or the results of comparative tests and trials to demonstrate that the plant variety is a new variety;
18. Clear representations, photographs and a detailed description of the plant variety that illustrate that the plant variety is clearly distinguishable;
19. The fingerprint of the variety, where necessary;
20. Proof of payment of the prescribed fee;
21. The legal instrument in which the legal status of the legal representative is verified, where necessary.
Examination
Examination: formal and substantive (comprises a technical examination to determine distinctiveness, uniformity and stability).
Objections: are communicated in writing to the Registrar and supported by grounds of the objection. Should be made within sixty days after the publication in the Gazette and the Varieties Bulletin.
Granting and Protection
Duration: twenty-five years in respect of varieties of trees and vines and twenty years for all other genera or species.
Provisional protection: applicant entitled to provisional protection of a plant breeder right between the date of the publication of the notice of the application for the grant of a plant breeder right in the Gazette and the Varieties Bulletin and the date of the grant of that right.
Assignment: an assignment or transfer does not affect a right acquired by a third party unless it is recorded in the Register and published in the Gazette and Varieties Bulletin.
Cancellation: available.
Maintenance: plant breeder or holder to maintain the protected variety during the period of the protection.