WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/125/Add.24 
26 January 2004 
 
 (04-0258) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
   
REVIEW OF THE PROVISION OF TRIPS ARTICLE 27.3(b) 
 
Responses to Checklist of Questions
 
 
Addendum  
  
MOLDOVA 
  The following communication, dated 20 November 2003, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of Moldova.
1. 
 
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 A. P
ATENT PROTECTION OF PLANT AND ANIMAL INVENTIONS  
 
1. To what extent are inventions concerning plants  or animals, whether products or processes, 
patentable under your country's law, if they meet the conditions for patentability stipulated in Article 
27.1 of the TRIPS Agreement? 
 According to Article 4(1) of the Law on Patent s for Inventions (No.461/1995), an invention in 
any field of technology may be patented if it is new, if it involves an inventive step and if it is 
susceptible of industrial application.  An inve ntion may concern a product or a process, including 
micro-organisms, or the use of a known product or process for new purposes.  Patents shall be 
available and patent rights enjoyable without discrim ination as to the place of invention, the field of 
technology and whether products ar e imported or locally produced. 
 
2. Where any such inventions are not patent able, even if they meet these conditions: 
(i) To what extent is this due to per se exclusions from patentability? 
Discoveries are not considered patentable inventions.  But, if a discovery is 
practically applied, it could be the subject of a patentable invention.  The following shall not 
be deemed patentable inven tions: the human body at every stage of its formation and 
development, or per se elements of that (Article 4(2) , Law on Patents for Inventions). 
 
                                                      
1 The questions to which answers are provided are those which can be found in document IP/C/W/273. IP/C/W/125/Add.24 
Page 2  
 
 (ii) To what extent is this based on other grounds (for example because conditions 
for patentability other than those stipulated in Article 27.1 are not met or in order to protect ordre public or morality (see Article 27.2 of the Agreement))? 
There are excluded from patentability the i nventions, the prevention of commercial 
exploitation of which is necessary to protect ordre public  or morality, including the necessity 
to protect human, animal or plant life or health or to avoid serious prejudice to the 
environment, in particular the processes for cloning a human being; the processes for modifying the germinal genetic identity of human beings;  the utilization of the human 
embryo in non-medical industrial and commercial purposes; the processes for modifying the identity of  animals which are likely to cause them suffering without any substantial medical 
benefit to man or animal, and also animals r esulting from such processes (Article 4 (3), Law 
on Patents for Inventions). 
 
3. Please describe any specific provisions, guidelines,  final judicial decisions and administrative 
rulings of general application concerning the applica tion of the conditions for patentability stipulated 
in Article 27.1 to subject-ma tter addressed by Article 27.3(b). 
 Subject matter of Article 27.1 of the TRIPS Agreement, patentable inventions are also 
considered those, that refer to a product, which consis t of or contain biological material, or refer to a 
method for reproduction, processing or utilization of a biological material.  
4. Where plant varieties are not as such paten table subject-matter under your country's law, 
please indicate the extent to which the scope of  protection under patents for inventions concerning 
plants can nevertheless embrace plant varieties or a botanical taxon whose plants express a trait 
covered by the claims of a patent. 
 Plants can be protected under patents for inventions only in case the claims do not limit to a 
certain plant variety because plant varieties are protected in the Re public of Moldova by the Law on 
the Protection of Plant Varieties (Article 4(2)h, Law on Patents for Inventions). 
 
5. Please provide any definitions used under your country's law with regard to subject-matter 
specifically excluded from patentability or sp ecifically patentable (e.g. micro-organisms, 
microbiological processes, non-biological processes, plant varieties). 
 According to Article 4(2)h of the Law on Pa tents for Inventions, plant varieties are not 
considered patentable inventions  as subject-matter under this law. 
 
6. To what extent is subject-matter that is iden tical to what occurs in nature patentable under 
your country's law? 
 Products that are identical with those which alr eady exist in nature are not patentable because 
they are discoveries, which are not considered pate ntable inventions (Law on Patents for Inventions, 
Article 4(2)).  If such a product was isolated from its natural environment or produced by means of a 
creative technical process, it may be the subject of an invention.  
7. Explain the requirements under your country's law for ensuring adequate disclosure of the 
patentable inventions referred to above. 
 According to the Law on Patents for Inventions, Article 10(2)b, an invention shall be 
disclosed in a manner sufficiently clear and complete to be carried out by a person skilled in the art.  
If the invention refers to a reproducible biological ma terial that cannot be disclosed in such a manner 
as to enable a person skilled in the art to reproduce it or if such material is not freely accessible, an  IP/C/W/125/Add.24 
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 attestation concerning the deposit of the material with the depositary institute designated by the 
Government or with a body having the status of inte rnational depositary author ity shall be attached to 
the application.  The deposit must have been made prior to the filing date of the patent application 
(Law on Patents for Inventions, Article 10(4)).  8. What rights are conferred upon owners of the patents referred to above? Are product and 
process patents subject to the same rules as other patents? Do they benefit from the same protection 
as stipulated in Article 28 of the TRIPS Agreement? 
 In accordance with the provisions of Article 23 of the Law on Patents for Inventions, that 
implements the provisions of Article 28 of the TR IPS Agreement, the owner of a patent shall enjoy 
the exclusive right to exploit the invention, to di spose of the patent and to prohibit others who act 
without his consent to carry out the following activities:  
a) the manufacture, use, import, offering for sale, sale and any other form of placing 
on the market, or holding for such purpose, of a product obtained by means of the 
invention protected by the patent; 
 b) where the subject matter of a patent is a process, to prevent third parties not having 
owner's consent from the act of using the process, and from the acts of using, offering for sale, selling, or importing for these purposes the product obtained by 
that process. 
9. Are there 'any specific exceptions  to these rights (affecting the scope or duration of the 
patents referred to above)? To what extent are excep tions, available in respect of plant variety rights 
(e.g. those referred to under question 14(i) belo w), available in respect of rights conferred upon 
patent owners? 
 The use of an invention protected by a pate nt shall not constitute an infringement of~-he 
patent owner's exclusive right for the performance of  research work or scientific experimentation for 
assessing the application of the subject matter of the invention or for non-commercial purposes; in 
relation to exceptional circumstances, such, as natu ral disasters, catastrophes and epidemics, and the 
like; for the occasional preparation of medicines on a medical prescription; for private purposes 
without gain (Law on Patents for Inventions, Artic le 24(1)).  The exceptions concerning the patent 
owner's right for the performance of research wo rk or scientific experimentation for non-commercial 
purposes or for private purposes without gain are sim ilar with the exceptions, available in respect of 
owner's right in case of utilization of a protected plant variety.  
10. Are there any specific provisions under your  country's law for compulsory licensing in 
respect of the patents referred to above? 
N.B. Please ensure that your responses to th e questions above cover each category of 
subject-matter specified in Article 27.3(b), na mely micro-organisms, essentially biological 
processes for the production of plants or animals, microbiological processes, non-
biological processes; plant variet ies and other inventions con cerning plants or animals. 
 Every invention protected under a patent can be  subject matter of a non-exclusive compulsory 
licence granted by the judicial authorities, in accord ance with the conditions stipulated by the Law on 
Patents for Inventions, Article 33. 
 IP/C/W/125/Add.24 
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 B. P
ROTECTION OF PLANT VARIETIES  
1. Does your country's law provide for the protecti on of plant varieties by plant breeder's rights, 
plant patents or any other sui generis system for the protection of plant varieties? 
 The Law No. 915/1996 on the Protection of Plant Varieties protects plant varieties.  Rights in 
a variety are recognized and protected on the territory of the Republic of Moldova and are certified by 
the grant of a variety patent. 
 
2. (a) If your country is a party to the Int ernational Convention for the Protection of New 
Varieties of Plants (UPOV), please indicate which Act or Acts of the UPOV Convention your country 
has signed; which it has ratified; to which it has acceded; and to the standards of which its law 
conforms but to which it has not (yet) adhered. 
 (b) If your country is not a party to  the UPOV Convention, does the protection 
offered to plant varieties under your country's law conform to the standards of any of the Acts of the UPOV Convention and, if so, which? 
 The Republic of Moldova has been a memb er of UPOV since 18 November 1998, and has 
ratified the 1991 Act, harmonizing the national legisl ation in compliance with the standards of the 
above-mentioned Act.  
3. Please indicate whether concurrent protecti on under your country's plant variety protection 
law and its patent law is available (see also question A. 4 above). 
 Plant varieties are protected only under the La w on the Protection of Plant Varieties; their 
protection under the Law on Patents for Inventions is not available. 
 
4. Please provide the following details of your country's sui generis system for the protection of 
plant varieties: 
(a) the relevant laws and regulations and, if th ey have been notified to the Council for 
TRIPS, a reference to the relevant WTO documents; 
The Law No. 915/1996 on the Protection of Plant Varieties and The Regulations on 
Application of the Law No. 915/1996 on the Protection 
\of Plant Varieties were notified to the 
TRIPS Council. 
(b) the definition of "plant variety"; 
According to Article 1 of the Law 915/1996,  "variety" means a plant grouping created 
by selection, which grouping: 
• conforms to the criteria of patentability; 
• presents the characteristics of a given genotype or combina tion of genotypes; 
can be distinguished from any other plant grouping of the same botanical taxon by the expression of at least one of the said characteristics; 
• may be represented by a single plant or plants, or by a single part or parts 
thereof provided that such part or pa rts may be used for the reproduction of 
entire plants of the variety.  IP/C/W/125/Add.24 
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 (c) the conditions required for protection; 
According to the Law 915/1996 (Article 5), a plant variety shall be patentable only 
where it is new, distinct, uniform and stable. The plant variety shall have a denomination in 
compliance with the provisions of the Law. 
(d) the extent to which subject-matter that is al ready known to the public or identical to 
what occurs in nature is protectable under y our country's sui generis system for the 
protection of plant varieties; 
A plant variety that is identical to a plant that already exists and was not created as a 
result of selection (Law on the Protection of Plant Varieties, Article 1), or became known to the public in the Republic of Moldova territory ear lier than one year before the date of filing 
an application for the grant of a patent, and in th e territory of any other State, earlier than four 
years, or in case of varieties of trees, fruit tr ees and grapevines, earlier than six years before 
the said date, is not patentable (Law on the Protection of Plant Varieties, Article 6). 
(e) the extent to which protection can be based  on characteristics of germplasm, as 
opposed to characteristics of plant vari eties derived from such germplasm; 
A plant variety can be protected if it is clearly distinguishable by one or more 
characteristics from any other variety whose ex istence is a matter of common knowledge. 
These characteristics could have morphological, physiological and/or biochemical nature, provided that they could be distinguished a nd described (Law on the Protection of Plant 
Varieties, Article 2). 
(f) who is entitled to the rights; 
The right to obtain a patent belongs to th e breeder or his succ essor in title. Where 
several breeders have bred the variety, the right to obtain a patent shall belong to all breeders 
jointly.  If a variety has been bred in the line of duty, the right to obtain a patent belongs to the employer unless otherwise provided in the empl oyment contract (Law on the Protection of 
Plant Varieties, Article 11). 
(g) the procedure for the acquisition of rights,  including the authority in charge of 
administering the rights; 
The procedure for the acquisition of rights includes: filing an application and 
presenting the necessary documents with the Stat e Agency on Industrial Property Protection 
which carries out the preliminary and as to form  examination and publishe d the particulars of 
application;  testing as to distinctness, unifo rmity and stability by the State Commission of the 
Republic of Moldova for Variety Testing; publicat ion of the decision to grant a patent or to 
reject the application; granting of the patent  (Law on the Protection of Plant Varieties, 
Articles 16, 20, 21, 22, 26). 
(h) the rights conferred; 
The patent owner holds the exclusive right  on the protected patent and on the new 
variety of plant, authorizing him to exploit, under the condition that in the course of 
exploitation it does not infringe the rights of other patent owners, to use it and prohibit the 
third parties to perform the following acts with  respect to the material of the variety: 
production or reproduction (mu ltiplication), conditioning for the purpose of propagation, IP/C/W/125/Add.24 
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 offering for sale, selling or other marketing, exporting, importing, stocking for any of the 
purposes mentioned above (Law on the Protection of Plant Varieties, Article 13). 
(i) exceptions to the rights conferred, such as: 
- acts performed for research or experimental purposes; 
- acts performed to develop new varieties of plants; 
- acts performed to commercialize such newly developed varieties; 
- any "farmer's privilege" (e.g. acts perf ormed by a farmer on his own land in 
respect of seed saved from the previous harvest); 
- acts done privately and for non-commercial purposes; 
- compulsory licensing. 
The right of the patent owner shall not extend to the use of the material of the 
protected variety: for private use; for sci entific research and experiments or for non-
commercial purposes; as initial material for the purpose of breeding other varieties and acts in respect of such other varieties (Law on the Protection of Plant Varieties, Article 14).  A protected variety can be subject matter of a non-exclusive compulsory license granted by the 
judicial authorities without consent of the owner of the patent, in accordance with the 
conditions stipulated by the Law on the Pr otection of Plant Varieties, Article 31. 
(j) the duration of protection; 
The term of the patent shall be 25 years from the date of the decision to grant the 
patent for varieties of trees, fruit trees and grapev ine; 20 years from the date of the decision to 
grant the patent for varieties of other species.  At the request of the patent owner the term of 
the patent may be extended for a period of 10 y ears (Law on the Protection of Plant Varieties, 
Article 2). 
(k) transfer of rights; 
The right to own a patent, the rights arising out of the registration of a patent 
application and the rights afforded by a patent  may be assigned to any natural person or legal 
entity. Transfer of rights may be performed e ither through an assignment contract, exclusive 
or nonexclusive license, or through succession, legal or testamentary inheritance.  Rights 
transferred through an assignment contract shall also have effect for third parties and shall 
determine the alteration of the legal status of the patent immediately as the contract is registered with the Agency (Law on the Protection of Plant Varieties, Article 15). 
(l) enforcement of the rights. 
Any act in respect of the protected variety for which the authorization of the patent 
owner is required and which is done without such  authorization shall be  deemed to constitute 
an infringement of the exclusive right of the patent owner (Law on the Protection of Plant 
Varieties, Article 33).  The patent owner or th e owner of an exclusive license may bring an 
action for infringement of their right.  The act ion for infringement of the exclusive right 
of the patent owner may include: an action fo r establishment of the act of infringement, 
an action for compensation for damages sustai ned, an action for identification of the  IP/C/W/125/Add.24 
 Page 7 
 
 
 infringer.  At the request of the patent owner, the infringer shall cease the infringement 
and compensate the owner for the damages sustained, including lost profits as well as expenses which may include appropriate attorn ey's fees (Law on the Protection of Plant 
Varieties, Article 34).  In th e course of court proceedings concerning the infringement of 
the rights of a patent owner, the court or th e Specialized Arbitration Centre may, at the 
request of any party or on its own initiative, decide to apply the following measures in 
support of the suit:  to order the seizure of the infringing seeds or any other plant 
material, or of the property of the infringer ; to prohibit the use, production or sale of 
material of the protected vari ety (Law on the Protection of Plant Varieties, Article 35). 
 
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