WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE 
ORGANIZACION MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO IPIN/IIIT AIP/2 
6 March 1997 
(97-0904) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original: English! 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS 
AND REGULATIONS NOTIFIED UNDER 
ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT anglais/ 
ingles 
The present document reproduces I the text of the Decree of the President of the Republic of 
12 August 1975, No. 974, as notified by Italy under Article 63.2 of the Agreement (see document 
IP/N/l/ITA/l). 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriete 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET REGLEMENTATIONS CONSACREES 
A LA PROPRIETE INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIEES 
AU TITRE DE L' ARTICLE 63:2 DE L' ACCORD 
Le present document contient le texte du Decret du President de la Republique du 12 aout 1975, 
n° 9741, notifie par l'Italie au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord (voir le document IP/N/II1TNI). 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
Intel~ relacionados con el Comercio 
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA 
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD 
DEL pARRAFO 2 DEL ARTiCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
En el presente documentol se reproduce el texto del Decreto del Presidente de la Republica 
N° 974, de 12 de agosto de 1975, notificado por Italia en virtud de 10 dispuesto en el parrafo 2 del 
articulo 63 del Acuerdo (vease el documento IP/N/IIITNI). 
IEnglish only/anglais seulement/en ingles solamente. IP 1Nl lilT AlP /2 
Page 2 
I TAL Y 
Standards for the Protection of New Plant Varieties* 
Consolidated Text of Decree No. 974 of August 12, 1975, as amended 
by Articles 76 to 78 of Decree No. 338 of June 22, 1979, 
and Law No. 620 of October 14, 1985** 
Article 1 
Patents for industrial inventions may be granted in respect of new plant 
varieties capable of agricultural or industrial application. 
Within the meaning of this Decree, a new plant variety, regardless of how 
it is obtained, is one that meets the following criteria: 
(a) it must be sufficiently homogeneous, having regard to the particular 
features of its sexual reproduction or vegetative propagation; 
(b) it must be stable in its essential characteristics, that is to say, 
it must remain true to its description after repeated reproduction or propaga­
tion and, where the breeder has defined a particular cycle of reproduction or 
multiplication, at the end of each cycle; 
(c) whatever may be the origin, artificial or natural, of the varieties 
from which it derives, it must be clearly distinguishable by one or more impor­
tant characteristics from any other plant variety whose existence is a matter 
of common knowledge at the time when protection is applied for. Common knowl­
edge may be established by reference to various factors such as: cultivation 
or marketing already in progress, entry in an official register of var ieties 
already made or in the course of being made, inclusion in a reference collec­
tion or precise description in a publication. 
At the time of the application for a patent, the plant variety must not 
have been, with the agreement of the breeder or his successor in title, the 
subject of commercial acts for longer than one year in Italy, or for longer 
than six years in the case of grapevine, forest trees, fruit trees and orna­
mental trees, including, in each case, their rootstocks, or for longer than 
four years in the case of the other plants in the territory of any other State. 
However, the tact that a new plant variety has been the subject of trial 
cultures, or has been entered or submitted for entry in an official register, 
shall not affect the right of the breeder of such a variety or his successor 
in title. 
* Italian title (of Decree No. 974): Decreto del Presidente della Repub­
blica, 12 agosto 1975, No. 974 -Norme per la protezione delle nuove vadeta 
vegetali • 
** Consolidated 'Iext prepared by the Office of the Union from the texts 
published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana: 
Decree No. 974 of August 12, 1975: GU of April 26, 1976; 
Decree No. 338 of June 22, 1979 (Revision of the National Patent legisla­tion Pursuant to the Delegation Given by Law No. 260 of May 26, 1978): 
GU of August 7, 1979; 
Law No. 620 of October 14, 1985 (Ratification and Implementation of the 
Act for the Revision of the International Convention of December 2, 1961, 
for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, as Revised on November 10, 
1972, Signed at Geneva on October 23,1978, and Amendment of the Decree 
of the President of the Republic No. 974 of August 12, 1975, Containing 
the Standards for the Protection of ~ew Plant Varieties): GU of November 
12, 1985. IP IN I lilT AlP 12 
Page 3 
The characteristics which r-ermit a new plant variety to be defined and 
distinguished may be of a morphological or physiolqgical nature. In all cases, 
they must be capable of precise description and recognition. 
The provisions of this Decree shall in every case be without preiudice to 
those of Article 14, third paragraph, and Article 15, third paragraph. 
Processes whereby new plant varieties are obtained shall not be protect­
able under the r-rovisions of this De<;:ree, even if they are described in the 
pa ten t applica tion ~ however, such processes may be the subject of separ ate 
applications for a patent for an industrial invention, in accordance with the 
provisions of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, provided that they are 
not essentially of a biological nature. 
Article 2 
The provisions of Articles 2584 to 2591 of the Civil Code and those of 
Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, as subsequently completed and amended, 
and of the Rules approved by Foyal Decree No. 244 of February 5, 1940, as 
subsequently completed and amended, are applicable to new plant varieties, 
provided that they are not inconsistent with those of this Decree. 
Article 3 
The breeder of a new plant variety or his successor in title may claim a 
right of priority, either at the time of filing the application for a patent 
or within two months thereafter, based on the first application filed pre­
viously in another State of the Paris Union for the Protection of New Varieties 
of Plants for the purpose of obtaining a title of protection for the same vari­
ety. The right of priority may only be enforced if the application for a 
patent and claim in respect of priority are filed in Italy within the mandatory 
period of twelve months from the date of filing of the first application. 
The breeder or his successor in title who claims the right of priority 
shall be allowed a period of four years after the expiration of the period of 
priority in which to furnish the additional documents and material necessary 
for the examination provided in Article 8 below. Those documents and the 
material necessary for the examination may be requested, however, before the 
expiration of the four-year period and within an adequate per iod where the 
application whose priority is claimed is rejected or withdrawn. The period of 
six months laid down in Article 20 of the Rules approveid by Royal Decree 
No. 244 of February 5, 1940, for the submission of a copy, certified by the 
1 Of the Law on Patents for Inventions (Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 
1939, as last amended by Decree of the President of the Republic No. 338 of 
June 22, 1979. 
Article 14, paraqraph (3), reads as follows~ 
"Additionally, the content of Italian r-atent ar;plications, or of 
European or international patent applications designating Italy, as 
filed, of which the dates of filing are r-rior to the date referred 
to in the preceding paragraph and which were r-ublished or made 
available to the Fublic on or after that date, shall be considered 
as comprised in the state of the art." 
Article 15, paragraEh (3), reads as follows: 
With respect to inventions for which I=riority is claimed under 
international conventions, the existence of the novelty requirement 
provided for under Article 14 must be evaluated with reference to 
the starting date of the priority." IP/N/l/IT A/P/2 
Page 4 
competent authority, of the documents which constitute the first filing shall 
remain unaffected. l 
Article 4 
The rights conferred by a patent in respect of a new plant variety shall 
consist of the exclusive right to produce for sale, to put on the market and 
to introduce in the territory of the State, propagating or reproductive material of the patented new variety. 
Such exclusive right shall extend to the production, the marketing and the introduction in the territory of the State of the products of the patented new 
variety in cases where its predominant use occurs through the sale of plants, 
parts of plants or flowers to be used for ornamental purposes. 
~here the new variety is derived from another patented variety but can be 
reproduced independently from that other variety, the provisions of Article 5 
of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, shall not apply. 2 
Authorization by the proprietor of the patent shall be required, however, 
when the repeated use of the plant variety is necessary for the commercial 
production of another variety. 
However, third par ties have the right to produce the patented new plant 
variety for the purpose of research or ot obtaining hybridization material. 
Such production shall, in all cases, be restricted in such a way as to preclude 
the commercial exploitation of the product, which shall not be distributed for 
purposes of gain outside the farm where it was produced. 
The maximum limits on such production shall be laid down for the various 
plant families and species by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, on the 
advice of the Commission referred to in Article 18 below. 
Article 5 
The new plant variety being the subject of a patent shall have the deno­
mination given to it by the breeder, who shall specify it at the time of filing 
of the application for a patent. 
The denomination must be such as to enable the new variety to which it 
refers to be identified and may not consist solely of figures, except where 
this is established practice for designating varieties. The denomination must 
meet the following criteria: 
(1) it must not be contrary to law, public order or morality; 
(2) it must be identical to the denomination already registered as the 
designation of the same variety in one of the States of the Paris Union for 
the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, subject to the power of the Central 
Patent Office to request a translation into Italian of the original denomina­
tion; 
1 The third paragraph of that Article reads as fo11ows~ 
"The patent shall be granted without the mention of priority if 
the documents specified in the first paragraph of Section 11 above 
have not been submitted in the prescribed form within six months 
from the filing of the application." 
2 That Article reads as follows~ 
"The patent for an industrial invention, the working of 
involves the work ing of inventions protected by pr ior, still patents for industrial inventions, may not be worked or 
without the consent ot the proprietors of such prior patents." which 
valid 
used IP 1Nl lilT AlP /2 
Page 5 
(3) it must not be liable to mislead or to cause confusion concerning the 
characteristics or value of the plant variety or the identity of the breeder; 
in particular, it must be different from every denomination which designates, in any member State of the aforementioned Interhational Union, an existing 
variety of the same or a closely related botanical species. 
The denomination of the patented new plant variety shall be regarded as 
the generic name of that variety and shall be used in order to distinguish it, 
even after the expiration of the prot~ction of that variety. 
The denomination of the patented new plant variety shall also be entered 
in the appropriate register. 
It shall be prohibited to use the aforementioned denomination to designate 
plant varieties of the same species but which differ from the patented variety. 
It shall be permitted to associate a trademark, trade name or other 
similar indication with the variety denomination, provided that the variety 
denomination remains easily recognizable. 
Article 6 
It shall be prohibited to the breeder or his successor in title to use, 
as the denomination of a new r;.lant variety, distinguishing words or signs in 
respect of which he enjoys the protection, either in the State or in a member 
State of the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, accorded to trademarks and which serve to distinguish a botanical species that is identical 
or similar to the new variety; neither may he use, for the the aforementioned 
purpose, a denomination liable to cause confusion with the said mark. 
If the breeder or his successor in title wishes to use, as the denomina­
tion of the new variety to be patented, a trademark such as that described in 
the preceding paragraph, or a denomination liable to cause confusion with such 
a mark, he may renounce his right to protection of that mark. In that case, 
his renunciation shall be effective from the date of its entry in the trademark register. 
If a denomination coming under the prohibition laid down in the first 
paragraph above is nevertheless registered, the breeder or his successor in title may not continue to assert his right to the trademark in respect of the 
new variety or a similar one. 
In cases where the denomination of the new variety specified in the patent 
application appears to fall under the prohibition laid down in the first para­
graph above and it has not yet been registered, the breeder or his successor 
in title shall be allowed to request to substitute for it another denomination 
which meets the prescribed requirements. If he fails to submit a new denomina­tion within six months from the date of the request to that effect, he may not 
continue to assert his right to the corresponding trademark in respect of the 
new variety a or similar one. 
Once the new denomination has been registered for the variety, the breeder 
or his successor in title may prohibit the use of the previous denomination by 
persons obliged to use it before the entry into force of this Decree only after 
the expiration of a {:eriod of one year from the date of publication of the 
registration of the new denomination. 
Article 7 
The duration of a patent granted under this Decree shall be 15 years from 
the date of its grant. 
The patent shall last for 30 years from the date of its grant in the case 
of plants with a woody stem such as grapevine, fruit trees and their root­
stocks, forest trees and ornamental trees. IP 1Nl lilT AlP 12 
Page 6 
Subject to the ~rovlslons of Article 4, third paragraph, of Royal Decree 
No. 1127 of June 29,1939,1 the effects of the patent shall commence on the 
date on which the application, together with its annexes, is made available to 
the public as provided in Article 9 below. 
Article 8 
The application for a patent in respect of a new plant variety shall be 
examined to ascertain~ 
(a) that the application and the documents appended thereto are in order; 
(b) that the denomination of the new plant variety is in conformity with 
the provisions of thii Decree1 
(c) that there are no elements liable to impede the grant of a patent 
within the meaning of Article 1 above. 
The Central Patent Office shall provide for the examination in respect of 
item (a) above. The examinations in respect of items (b) and (c) above shall 
be within the competence of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which 
may, however, decide to dispense with such examinations, wholly or in part, if 
such examinations have already been carried out with sufficient guarantees in 
Italy or in another State of the Paris Union for the Protection of New Vari­
eties of Plants. 
In that case, the apr:1icant shall submit documentary evidence of the 
examinations made. 
Article 9 
Applications for patents in respect of new plant varieties shall be filed 
only in Rome, with the Central Patent Office. They may also be sent through 
the post in accordance with Article 2 of the Decree of the President of the 
Republic No. 540 of June 30, 1972.2 The other documents relating to the said 
applications may be filed with the Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Handi­
crafts of the capital towns of the provinces. 
~ithin 60 days after the date of filing of the application for a patent, 
the Central Patent Office shall put up a notice to this effect on its notice­
board, where the notice shall remain for 30 days. 
For the aJ;.plications for patents in respect of new plant varieties, the 
period provided in Article 4 of Royal Decree NO. 1127 of June 29, 1939, for 
making the documentation available to the public shall be 90 days from the 
date of filing of the application. 
Any person may, within the following 60 days, address its observations tq 
the Central Patent Office, in duplicate, in respect of the patentability of 
the plant variety. 
Article 10 
The Central Patent Office shall satisfy itself that the application is in 
order and, where observations have been presented to it by third persons, it 
shall send the applicant a copy thereof, and invite him to submit any counter­
s ta tement. 
1 
2 That paragraph reads as follows~ 
"With regard to J;.ersons whom the applicant notified his applica­
tion, with the s}:ecification and possible drawings, the effects of 
the patent shall commence on the date of such notification." 
i.e. by registered mail, return receipt requested. Article 11 IP 1Nl lilT AlP 12 
Page 7 
The Central Patent Office shall forward the documents relating to the 
application for a patent to the ~inistry of Agriculture and Forestry, together 
with the observations, if any, of interested third parties, the applicant's 
counter-statement and any other relevant information, and request the Ministry 
for an advice as to whether the application is admissible. 
The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry shall, before undertaking the 
examinations falling within his competence, invite the applicant to pay, within 
a period of three months, the fee prescribed under Article 22bis below and to 
transmit to it the receipt evidencing payment. 
Any unjustified failure to pay within the said period shall entail the 
application for a patent to be considered withdrawn in all respects. 
Article 12 
On the advice of the ~inistry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Central 
Patent Office shall either grant the patent or reject the application. 
The patent granted under this Decree shall not exempt its proprietor or 
any other I?erson using its subject matter from conforming with the laws and 
regulations governing the production, marketing and use of the subject matter. 
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry shall have the right, at any 
time, to undertake a technical control test in order to establish that the 
conditions set forth in items (a) and (b) of the second paragraph of Article 1 
are still being complied with. 
Article 13 
The patent shall be declared null and void if it is established that the 
conditions laid down in item (c) of the second paragraph and in the third 
paragraph of Article 1 of this Decree were not effectively complied with at 
the time the patent was granted. 
The patent shall become forfeit if the breeder or his successor in title: 
(a) fails to provide the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry with the 
reproductive or propagating material capable of producing the new variety with 
its morphological and physiological characteristics as defined when the patent 
was granted; 
(b) within the prescribed period and after being requested to do so, 
does not provide the competent authority with the reproductive or propagating 
material, the documents and the information deemed necessary for checking the 
new variety, or does not allow inspection of the measures which have been 
taken for the maintenance of the variety; 
(c) has failed to pay within the prescribed period such fees as may be 
payable to keep the patent in force. 
In the cases referred to in items (a) and (b) above, the patent shall be 
declared forfeited by the Central Patent Office on the proposal of the Ministry 
of Agriculture and Forestry. 
A patent may not be declared null and void or become forfeit on grounds 
other than those set out in this Article. 
Article 14 
The provisions of the Decree of the President of the llepublic No. 849 of 
February 26,1968, Concerning Coml=-u1sory Licenses, as subsequently amended, 
shall apply to patents in respect of new plant varieties insofar as they are 
compatible with the provisions of this Decree. IP 1Nl lilT AlP 12 
Page 8 
There shall be considered to be failure to work, suspension or reduction 
in working, within the meaning of Article 1 of the aforementioned Decree, if 
the breeder or his successor in title, either directly or by means of one or 
more licensees, fails to provide users on the territory of the State with the 
reproductive and propagating material of the patented plant variety to an 
extent that meets the requirements of the country's economy. 
Article 15 
In accordance with the same provisions of the aforementioned Decree of the 
President of the Republic No. 849 of February 26, 1968, for reasons of public interest and regardless of whether or not the patent is being worked, special-­
non-exclusive--compulsory licenses may be issued at any time, against payment 
of equitable compensation to the proprietor of the patent, for the exploitation 
of such patented plant varieties as are suitable for the production of food for 
human or animal consumption, therapeutic purposes or the manufacture of drugs. 
Article 16 
The licenses provided in the preceding articles shall be issued in accor­
dance with the advice of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which shall 
decide the conditions prescribed for the issuance of licences. The amount and 
terms of payment of the remuneration, in case of oppos ition in the sense of 
Article 54guater of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 29, 1939, shall be determined 
on the basis of Article 50, second paragraph, of the said Decree. l 
The decision to issue a license may impose an obligation on the proprietor 
of the patent to provide the licensee with the necessary reproductive and/or 
propagating material. 
Article 17 
In order to undertake the examinations which are necessary for the advices 
to be given under the provisions of this Decree, the Ministry of Agriculture 
and Forestry shall be authorized to conduct experiments on national territory 
and to carry out inspections at productions sites. 
For such purposes, the said Ministry shall be entitled to the assistance 
of agricultural research institutes, university institutes and those institutes set up under international conventions or agreements to which Italy is a party. 
Article 18 
In order to enable the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to give its 
advices in conformity with the provisions of this Decree, an Advisory Commis­
sion shall be set up in that Ministry by decree of the Minister of Agriculture 
and Fores try. 
1 Article 54guater, second paragraph, reads as follows~ 
" ••• the proprietor of the patent and any persons holding rights in 
the patent on the basis of recorded or registered acts, may oppose 
the grant of the application or declare not to accept the amount 
and terms of payment of the compensation. Such opposition must be 
accompanied by the reasons therefor." 
Article 50, second paragraph, reads as follows~ 
" ... [the] amount and the terms of payment shall be determined by 
a Board of Arbitration, consisting of three members, one to be 
appointed by each of the parties and the third by the first two or, 
in case of disagreement, by the President of the Board of Appeals. 
The Board of Arbitration shall base its award on a fair evaluation. 
If its award is clearly unfair or wrong or if one of the parties 
refuses to appoint its arbitrator, the matter shall be decided by a 
judge." The Commission shall consist of~ IP IN I lilT AlP 12 
Page 9 
(1) a Chairman, who shall be a Section Head of the Council of State and 
be appointed by its President; 
(2) the Director General for Agricultural Production, Ministry of Agri­
culture and Forestry; 
(3) the Director General of the Department for the Protection of Agri­
cultural ~roduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; 
(4) the Director General of the Department of Upland Economy and Forest­
ry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; 
(5) the Director of the Institute in charge of the registers of seed 
product varieties; 
(6) the Director of the Central Patent Office; 
(7) an ordinary professor from the faculty of agriculture of a univer­
sity, who shall be appointed by the Minister of Education; 
(8) the Director of an agricultural experimental institute, who shall be 
appointed by the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry; 
(9) a technical examiner from the Central Patent Office; 
(10) an official of the Ministry of Health. 
Those members listed in items (2) to (6) above may be represented by 
officials of their respective departments; for those members listed in items 
(7) to (10), an alternate shall be appointed. 
On the decision, which must be justified, of the Chairman, particularly 
qualified experts, to a maximum of three, may be called upon to become members 
of the Commission for the examination of specific questions. 
An official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry from the category 
of director s, of a rank not lower than that of Head of Department, shall act 
as Secretary of the Commission. 
The Commissions's term of office shall be three year s, and that of its 
members shall be renewable. 
In the event of the Commissions's term of office not being renewed on the 
date due, the Commission shall continue to function pending such renewal. 
Before expressing its advice, the Commission may hear the views of the 
parties concerned or of their representatives, who shall in all cases be heard 
if they so request. 
Article 19 
Those members of the Commission who are not government officials shall 
receive, where appropriate, the per diem payable to higher officials. 
Article 20 
The expropriation referred to in Articles 60 et ~. of Royal Decree 
1-10. 1127 of June 29, 1939, shall, in the case of new plant varieties, be 
carried out in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.l 
1 Le. in the interest of the military defense of the country or for other 
reasons of public interest. IP 1Nl lilT AlP /2 
Page 10 
Article 21 
A copy of the introductory act of every civil legal proceeding and appeal 
to the Commission referred to in Article 71 of Royal Decree No. 1127 of June 
29, 1939,1 in connection with patents for new plant varieties shall be 
communicated to both the Central Patent Office and the Ministry of Agriculture 
and Forestry by those persons instituting the proceedings. If this has not 
been done, the judicial authority or the aforementioned Commission may, at any 
stage in the proceedings and before reaching a decision, request that such a 
communication be made. 
Article 22 
The patents for new plant varieties shall be the subject of the same fees 
and the same time limits for payment as are provided for patents for industrial 
inventions. 
For the application for and grant of a special compulsory license under 
Article 15 above, the same fees shall be due, and at the same dates, as are 
provided for the ordinary compulsory· licenses in item 91 of title VIII of the tariff attached to the Decree of the President of the Republic No. 641 of 
October 26, 1972, as subsequently amended. 
Article 22bis 
For the issuance of the advices and the undertaking of the technical con­
trol tests provided by Articles 11 and 12 above, the compensations provided by 
the tariff fixed by Decree of the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, after consultation of the competent department of the High Council for Agriculture 
and Forestry, shall be due in proportion with the cost of the service. 
Such compensations shall be served into a special item of the State budget 
by the applicants for patents for new plant varieties. 
Article 23 
The costs of implementation of this Decree, estimated at 120 million Lira 
for 1976, shall be offset by the income derived from the fees laid down in the 
preceding Article. 
The Minister for the Treasury shall be authorized, by means of appropriate 
decrees, to amend the budget as necessary. 
Article 24 
The provisions of this Decree shall apply, from the date of its coming 
into force, to new plant varieties of the following genera and species: 
(1) wheat) (2) barley; (3) rice; (4) maize; (5) lucerne; (6) clover; 
(7) rose; (8) carnation; (9) grapevine and its rootstocks; (10) poplar. 
By decree of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts in aqree­
ment with the· Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, the foregoing provi~ions 
may be extended gradually to new plant varieties of other genera and species. 
Article 25 
This Decree shall enter into force 180 days after the date of its publica­
tion in the Official Journal of the Italian Republic. 
1 i.e. the Board of Appeals. IP/N/1/ITA/P/2 
Page 11 
The necessary technical and administrative measures for implementation of 
this Decree shall be provided for by decree of the Minister for Industry, 
Commerce and Handicrafts, in agreement with the Minister of Agriculture and 
Forestry and the Minister of Health. 
This Decree, fitted with the Seal of the State, shall be included in the 
Official Collection of Laws and Decrees of the Italian Republic. It shall be 
the obligation of each and every person to observe the Decree and to see that it is observed. 
Article 15 of Law No. 620 of October 14, 1985 
The compensations referred to in the preceding Article [Article 22bisl 
and the procedure for their collection shall apply to the applications for 
patents concerning new plant varieties filed after the date of entry into 
force of this Law. 
Within one year from the date referred to in the preceding paragraph, 
there shall be provided, by Decree of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and 
Handicrafts, in agreement with the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and 
the Minister of Health, for the amendment of the Ministerial Decree of October 
22, 1976, published in the Official Journal No. 15 of January 18, 1977, 
containing the Implementing Regulations of the Decree of the President of the 
Republic No. 974 of August 12, 1975.