New Plant Varieties
Legal Basis
– Law on Protection of New Varieties of Plants of February 1, 2007.
Membership in International Conventions
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since December 25, 1995.
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since December 25, 1995.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since March 2, 2005.
– International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), 1991 Act, since December 9, 2004.
Protection
Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney (notarization required only in absence of the applicant’s seal; no legalization);
2. Specification (if not in Azeri language to be translated into Azeri);
3. Priority document, if any.
Applicant: author of a selection achievement or his legal successor.
Foreigners: must appoint a local agent in Azerbaijan.
Protection of foreigners: they enjoy the same rights as Azeri nationals.
Scope of protection: a patent can be granted for a new plant variety, race of cattle and their hybrids, lines, genotypes, crossings, clones, seeds, ova, embryos, and other vegetable stuffs and pedigree reserves.
Patentability: a patent is granted for a plant variety which is new and distinctive, uniform and stable.
Novelty: the claimed plant variety should not have been made available in Azerbaijan.
Distinctiveness: a plant variety before it is filed should have distinctiveness from known plant varieties.
Duration: twenty years from the registration date; twenty-five years for grape sorts, woody ornamental plants, fruit trees, forestry cultures, races of animals.
Extension: ten years.