New Plant Varieties

– Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Protection of Selection Achievements, in force since July 13, 1999, amended on July 9, 2004, January 31, 2012, and October 28, 2019.

Membership in International Conventions

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since December 25, 1991.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since December 25, 1991.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since January 30, 2001.

Filing

Applicant: the breeder or his successor in title, his employer.

Foreigners: enjoy same rights as nationals; must appoint a patent attorney in Kazakhstan.

Conditions for protection: a patent shall be granted where a selection achievement is new, distinct, uniform and stable.

Novelty: a plant variety or animal breed shall be deemed new if, at the date of filing the application for the grant of a patent, the seeds or other propagating material or pedigree material of the selection achievement has not been sold or otherwise disposed of to others, by the breeder or his successor in title, for the purposes of exploitation of the variety or breed: – in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, earlier than one year before that date; – in the territory of any other state, earlier than four years in the case of annual varieties and breeds or, in the case of perennial varieties and breeds, earlier than six years before the said date.

Patentable: plant varieties, breeds.

Priorities: within twelve months. The author shall have the right to give his own name to his selection achievement.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident patent attorney):
1. Power of attorney (no legalization);
2. Official technical questionnaire related to the selection achievement;
3. Priority certificate, if any (to be filed within six months from the filing date).

Examination

Authority: the National Patent Office shall be a competent State authority which shall receive applications for the grant of patents for selection achievements of the Republic of Kazakhstan, organize a preliminary examination thereof, keep the State Register of Selection Achievements, grant patents, publish information relating to selection achievements, and shall perform other functions of the Patent Office. The State Commissions shall carry out examination of patentability of selection achievements and testing the compliance thereof with the requirements of economic utility, and register them in the State Register of Selection Achievements Authorized for Use for Production Purposes.

Examination: a formal examination and a delayed full examination.

The formal examination is carried out by National Patent Office within two months after the filing date and comprises the examination as to the priority date of an application and the presence of the required documents and their compliance with the prescribed conditions. Where the preliminary examination of an application has produced a favorable result, the Patent Office shall take a decision to proceed with a further examination. A copy of the application and of the technical questionnaire related to the selection achievement shall be transmitted to a respective State Commission. The particulars of the application on which the preliminary examination has produced a favorable result shall be published in the Gazette after expiration of eighteen months from the date of its receipt. At the request of the applicant the Patent Office may effect the publication before the expiration of the said time limit.

Rejection: where the preliminary examination finding is that the application does not comply with the prescribed conditions, a decision to reject the application shall be taken and the applicant shall be notified accordingly. The decision may be appealed by the applicant to the Appeal Board.

Full (substantive) examinationopposition: any interested party may, within six months following the date of publication of the particulars of the application, file with the State Commission a notice of opposition contesting the claimed selection achievement. The State Commission shall notify the applicant of the notice and give essential grounds of the opposition. In the case of disagreement with the notice of opposition the applicant may, within three months from the date of receipt of the said notice, lodge an appeal with the State Commission stating the grounds thereof. The Patent Office shall, on the basis of the decision of the State Commission, take its decision and inform the applicant accordingly. Where the variety or breed does not comply with the condition of novelty, a decision to refuse the patent grant shall be taken.

Testing of the variety or breed as to compliance with the prescribed conditions of distinctiveness, uniformity and stability shall be carried out by the respective State Commission in accordance with approved methodology and within the prescribed periods. The applicant shall furnish a quantity of seed or pedigree material required for the purposes of testing. The State Commissions may take into account the results, which have been carried out by other organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the results of tests which have been carried out by the competent authorities of other States on the basis of concluded contracts, as well as information provided by the applicant.

Amendments of application: amendments and corrections to the application may be submitted to the Patent Office within two months after the filing date, or with an additional fee at any time before the issuance of the decision; filing of additional material is possible during the formal and the substantive examination; material extending and changing the subject matter is not acceptable.

Decision: where the variety or breed is found to comply with the conditions of patentability, the State Commission shall make the official description thereof on the basis of which the Patent Office shall take a decision to grant a patent.

Granting

Granting decision: issued after the complete examination, if the patentability and novelty requirements are met.

Publication: in the official periodical on selection achievements protection matters published by the Patent Office.

Opposition: may be presented by any person against the patent at any time during its validity.

Patent certificate: is issued in electronic format only; certificates of authorship are issued in paper format.

Annuities: provided for.

Beginning, duration and extension of protection: the term of a variety patent shall be twenty-five years from the date of filing an application with the Patent Office. For animal breeds the said period shall be thirty years. For grapevines, ornamental, fruit and forest trees, including rootstocks thereof, the said period shall be thirty-five years. At the request of the patent owner the Patent Office may extend the term of the patent for a period not exceeding ten years.

Modification of Protection after Granting

Opposition: provided for.

Invalidation: possible.

License: must be registered.

Working: compulsory. Lack of working can lead to the granting of a compulsory license, upon a third party’s request.

Compulsory license: accorded in case of non-working during three years following the publication date of the patent, with compensation.

Infringement: is punished by penalties (including criminal) and compensation.