New developments in the international union for the protection of new varieties of plants (UPOV).

摘要

UPOV, which continues to be the only internationally harmonized, effective sui generis system of plant variety protection, is continuing to expand. In December 2005, UPOV published a report on the impact of plant variety protection according to the UPOV Convention, some of the findings of which are summarized in this paper. With the expansion of UPOV in both geographical terms and in terms of the number of genera and species for which protection is sought, there are increasing demands for general information on the UPOV Convention. This paper explains some of the initiatives taken by UPOV in recent years to meet those needs, including the launch of a distance learning course and the development of new guidance documents on the examination of distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS). One aspect of the UPOV Convention explored in this paper is the provision for essentially derived varieties. The relationship between initial varieties and essentially derived varieties is explained and the role of the authorities in matters concerning essentially derived varieties is considered. An overview of the current situation with regard to the possible use of molecular techniques in the DUS examination is also presented by reference to proposals considered within UPOV..