– Law on Seeds and Phytogenetic Creations No. 20.247, enacted in 1973 and initially regulated by Ruling Decree No. 1995/78, subsequently regulated by Decree No. 2183/91.

Same as for “Patents of Invention“.

– International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), 1978 Act, since December 25, 1994.

Definition: the protection includes all species of culture. Nowadays (2001), there are more than 70 species protected by this law.

Can be protected: new phytogenetics or cultivated creations different from others already known and bearing sufficient homogeneity and stable heritage features through consecutive generations.

Transgenic plants: can be protected as plant varieties.

Foreign applicant: the property deed applied for a foreign culture must be filed by its creator or legally authorized representative having an address in Argentina.

Reciprocity: protection will always be granted provided similar rights for Argentine phytogenetic creations are recognized in the country of origin.

Conditions of protection: for the grant of a property deed, the following requirements should be met: (1) Novelty: the variety must not have been offered for sale or commercialized either by the owner or upon his consent: (a) within the national territory and up to the date of filing the application at the National Registry of Culture Property; or (b) within the territory of another member State derived from a bilateral or multilateral agreement with Argentina, for a period longer than four years; (2) Distinctiveness: the variety must be clearly distinguishable by means of one or more features, from any other variety existing in general knowledge when filing the application; (3) Uniformity: the variety must maintain its relevant heritage features in a uniform way, liable to the foreseeable variations originating in the particular mechanism of its propagation; (4) Stability: the relevant heritage features of the variety must remain after successive propagation or, in case of a special cycle of propagation, at the end of each said cycle.

Filing Office: the National Registry of Culture Properties (RNPC).

Filing requirements: the application for filing at the National Registry of Culture Property will consist of an affidavit with the following requirements:
1. Name, address and inscription number of the applicant;
2. Name, address and national professional register of the agricultural engineer who supports the filing of the application;
3. Common and scientific name of the species;
4. Name of the variety;
5. Establishment and place where the variety was obtained, indicating country of origin, if this applies;
6. Description of the morphologic, physiologic, sanitary, phenologic, physicochemical features and the more distinguishable industrial or technical qualities allowing characterization thereof. Photographs, drawings or any other technical element of generally accepted use for illustration of the morphologic aspects.

Variety denomination requirements: a denomination aiming to become its generic designation must be given to the varieties to be filed. Said denomination must include the following features: (a) the designation must permit identification of the variety; (b) it cannot consist only of numbers, except when this is a common use practice in the designation of varieties; (c) it cannot induce an error or confusion of the features, the value or identity of the variety or the owner’s identity; (d) it must be different from any other denomination designating a pre-existing variety of the same botanical species or from a similar species in any other National State.

The property right over one variety implies that the material of propagation of the same cannot be sold or reproduced without authorization.

Duration: protection as of the date of issue of the deed, between ten and twenty years, depending of the species or group of species.