– Law on the Protection of Plant Varieties No. 39-XVI of February 29, 2008, in force since September 6, 2008, last amended on June 24, 2016.

– International Union for the Protection on New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), 1991 Act, since October 28, 1998.

Applicant: inventor or his successor in title.

Foreigners: must appoint a local agent in Moldova.

Protection of foreigners: they enjoy the same rights as Moldovan nationals.

Types of patents: plant varieties patents.

Conditions for protection: the plant variety must be distinguishable, homogeneous, stable and new and it must be described by a registered variety name.

Distinguishability: the variety must be distinguishable by at least one of its important characteristics from any other variety whose existence is commonly known at the time when protection is applied for (the distinctiveness of a variety shall be determined by features which can be recognized and described precisely). A variety is commonly known, in particular, if it has already been entered in an official Register, if a request for entry in an official Register has been allowed, if another variety has an earlier filing date and protection is granted to the variety, based on this application.

Novelty: if at the time of filing, the plant breeder has not sold or handed to a third person the variety material for commercial use: (a) in the territory of Moldova: one year before filing; (b) in the territory of other States: six years before filing application for varieties of woody plants, fruit plants and grapes, and four years before filing for other plant varieties. Note: the following shall have no bearing on the novelty of a variety, if: (a) the material of the variety is disposed of to an official body in the context of certain legal obligations or third parties on the basis of an agreement, or in the context of any other legal relations, for the purposes of production, reproduction, propagation, conditioning or storing, provided that the breeder is not deprived of the exclusive right to dispose of the material of the variety and provided that the material of the variety has not been disposed of for commercial purposes previously, except where such material of the variety was used repeatedly to obtain hybrids and if the material of the hybrid and the harvested material of the hybrid were sold; (b) the material of the variety is disposed of by a company or firm to another company or firm of which it is a subsidiary, or if both companies or firms are wholly owned by a third company or firm, provided that there was no earlier disposal; (c) are disposed of without reference to the variety, the material of the variety or the harvested material of the variety, obtained from plants which have been cultivated for experimental purposes or for the purpose of creation or discovery and development of a variety and which have not been used for the purpose of a new reproduction or propagation; (d) the material of the variety is disposed of with the view of presentation of the variety by the breeder in an exhibition which is officially recognized in accordance with the Convention on International Exhibitions; (e) the material of the variety is disposed of in an agreement between the breeder and a third party, according to which the breeder authorizes the production of propagating material under his supervision.

Homogeneity: the plants of this variety should be homogeneous on reproduction with characteristic features. The variety shall be deemed to be uniform if, taking into account the differences that may be expected from the particular features of its propagation, plants of the variety remain sufficiently uniform in the expression of characteristics included in the examination of distinctness of the variety, and also of other characteristics used to describe the variety.

Stability: the main features must remain invariable after the repeated reproduction. The variety shall be deemed to be stable if its relevant characteristics for the determination of its distinctiveness and any other features used to describe the variety remain unchanged after repeated propagation or at the end of each cycle of propagation.

Priorities: Convention priority, twelve months.

Territory covered: the Republic of Moldova.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney (no legalization);
2. Proposed designation of the variety;
3. Description of the variety;
4. Applicant’s declaration confirming the novelty of the variety (within two months from the filing date);
5. Priority document, if claimed, to be filed within three months from the filing date.

Examination: a formal and a preliminary examination and testing of the new variety for difference, homogeneity and stability.

The formal examination is carried out within two months from the date of filing and comprises checking the formal requirements.

The preliminary examination is carried out within three months from the filing date and comprises correspondence of the variety’s designation with the law, and the priority is established.

Publication of the patent application: issued after the expiry of three months from the date of the preliminary examination decision.

Substantive examination is carried out within six months from the filing date of the patent application. The Office checks the correspondence of the claimed variety with the conditions of novelty and correspondence of the variety’s designation with the conditions of the corresponding article of the Law.

Technical examination: establishes the correspondence of the variety with the conditions of distinguishability, homogeneity and stability. The State examination can use the data of the testing performed by a competent authority of a member State of UPOV.

Granting decision: within three months from the date of receipt of the technical examination report and the specified description of variety, the decision of patent grant is taken.

Publication: the Office publishes a notification in the Bulletin about the decision of patent grant and publishes the patent documents containing the description of the variety and photographs. The date of patent grant is the publication date of the notification concerning the grant thereof in the Bulletin.

Duration: twenty-five years for plant varieties, or in case of varieties of vine, potatoes and trees thirty years.

Renewal: additional five years. Grace period: six months with 50% fine.

Cancellation: the patent is recognized as invalid, if there were not any conditions of novelty and difference at the time of its granting; if the plant breeder or the patentee’s name is incorrectly indicated in the patent. The action of invalidation is possible during the whole duration of a patent.

License: must be registered.

Compulsory license: may be accorded in case of non-working during three years from the patent granting date.

Infringement: the court can seize seeds or any other variety material, which is the subject of infringement or the infringer’s property; it can prohibit use, manufacture or sale of the variety protected.