WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
10 October 2001
(01-4919)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
LAWS AND REGULATIONS NOTIFIED UNDER
ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT
CZECH REPUBLIC
Revision
By means of a communication from its Permanent Mission, dated 29 August 2001, the Czech
Republic has notified, under Article 63.2 of the Agreement, the attached text1 of Law No. 408/2000
Coll., of 25 October 2000, on the Protection of Plant Variety Rights and the Amendment to Law No.
92/1996 Coll., on Plant Varieties, Seed and Planting Material of Cultivated Plants, as amended.
The new law, which entered into force on 1 February 2001, repeals Act No. 132/1989 Coll.,
on New Plant and Animal Variety Protection (distributed in document IP/N/1/CZE/P/1) as amended
by Act no. 92/1996 Coll., and Act No. 206/2000 Coll. (distributed in docu ment IP/N/1/CZE/P/2).
                                                     
1 In English only.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 2
408
ACT
of 25 October 2000
on the protection of plant var iety rights and the amendm ent to Act No. 92/1996 Coll., on
plant varieties, seed and plan ting material of cultivated  plants, as last amended,
(Act on the protection of plant variety rights)
Parliament has adopted the follo wing Act of the Czech Republic:
PART ONE
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
This Act regulates
a) the rights and obligations with respect to new plant varieties,2
b) the powers and role of state administration authorities in the field of protective rights
to varieties,
c) the proceedings for the grant of plant variety rights,
d) the control of variety maintenance, and
e) the imposition of sanctions for infringement of obligations stipulated by this Act.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Act
a) protective rights means rights and obligations to plant varieties resulting from an
effective decision of the Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture(hereinafter "the Institute"),
b) holder means the breeder who has been granted protective rights to the variety, or his
successor in title,
c) breeder means the natural or legal pers on, who bred, or discovered and improved
(hereinafter "created") a variety or the person for whom someone else created avariety as part of fulfilment of tasks in relation to an employment contract or anothersimilar relationship, unless a written agreement stipulates otherwise; legal successorof the breeder shall also be considered as breeder,
                                                     
2 Article 2 (a) of Act No. 92/1996 Coll., on plant varieties, seeds and planting material of cultivated plants, as
last amended.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 3
d) protected variety means the variety protected by protective rights granted pursuant
this Act,
e) member country means a Member State of the International Union for the Protection
of New Varieties of Plants,3
f) list means the list of applications for the grant of protective rights to a variety in
which the specifications pursuant to Article 9 (a) to (c) shall be entered,
g) small grower means grower operating in ag ricultural production on arable land at a
maximum area set dawn in Annex 2 of this Act.
CHAPTER II
Conditions for the Grant of the Protective Rights
Article 3
(1) The protective right may be granted to varieties of all plant genera and species,
including hybrids between genera a nd species (hereinafter "varieties").
(2) The protective right may be granted to  the variety which satisfies conditions of
a) novelty,
b) distinctness,
c) uniformity, and
d) stability.
(3) The variety denomination must comply with the conditions laid down by this Act
(Article 7).
(4) Protective rights shall be conferred and obligations relating to their grant shall be
stipulated by the Institute if the criteria specified by this Act are satisfied.
Article 4
Novelty
(1) The variety shall be deemed to satisfy  the condition of novelty if, at the day of
filing of the application for grant of protective rights the propagating material4 or material
from the variety harvest (hereinafter the "harvested material") has not been sold or otherwisedisposed of to others by or with the consent of  the breeder, for purposes of exploitation of the
variety
a) in the territory of the Czech Republic earlier than one year before the application has been
filed, or
                                                     
3 Article 1 (2) of the Communication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on accession of the Czech and
Slovak Federal Republic to the International Convention for protection of new varieties of 2
December 1961, in the wording revised in Genova 10 November 1972 and 23 October 1978
4 Article 2 (g) of Act 92/1996 Coll.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 4
b) outside the Czech territory earlier than four years before the application has been filed or,
in the case of trees or of vines, earlier than six years before the application has been filed .
(2) The following shall not be deemed to be a disposal of the variety to others within
the meaning of paragraph 1:
a) if the breeder supplies propagating or th e harvested material of the variety
1. in order to fulfil statutory duties,5 or
2. to others based on a contractual rela tion solely for the purpose of production,
propagation, conditioning or storage, provided the breeder preserves theexclusive right of disposal of the variety material; should, however, the
propagating material of the variety be repeatedly used for the production of ahybrid variety, the material of which is  sold or otherwise disposed, such use
of the propagating material of the variet y shall be deemed to be a disposal of
the variety to others for purposes of exploitation of the variety, or
b) if the breeder sells or otherwise provides, w ithout reference to the variety, to a third
person propagating or harvested material which has been produced from plants grown for
experimental purposes or for the creation of ot her plant varieties and which is not used for
further propagation, or
c) if the breeder had displayed the variety at an international exhibition in compliance with
an international treaty.
6
Article 5
Distinctness
(1) The variety shall be deemed to satisfy the condition of distinctness if it is clearly
distinguishable from any other variety whose existence is a matter of common knowledge as
of the date of the filing of the application for grant of protective rights by reference to theexpression of at least one characteristic resulting from its genotype or combination ofgenotypes.
(2) The following varieties shall be deem ed to be of matter of common knowledge
a) protected in the Czech Republic or abroad,
b) entered in the official plant variety register
7 in the Czech Republic or a similar register
abroad,
c) in respect of which an application for grant of protective rights or for entry in the
plant variety register has been filed in the Czech Republic provi ded the application
will led to the granting or entering,
d) in respect of which an application for grant of protective rights or for entry in the
plant variety register has been filed abroad, provided the application will led to thegranting or entering, or
                                                     
5 E.g. Act No. 92/1996 Coll. as amended.
6 Convention on International Exhibitions concluded in Paris on 22 November 1928 and publised in the
Collection of Laws and Orders of Czechoslovak Republic under No. 46/1932.
7 Article 11 (1) of Act 92/1996 Coll.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 5
e) offered for sale or sold in the Czech Republic or abroad
Article 6
Uniformity and Stability
The variety shall be deemed to satisfy the conditions of uniformity and stability if it
meets the features stipulated in a special legal regulation4.
Article 7
Variety Denomination
(1) The same variety denomination shall be us ed for an identical variety in the Czech
Republic and any other contractual7 or member country. It sha ll not be applicable if the
denomination contradicts the provisions of paragraph 2.
(2) A designation may not be used as a variety denomination if
a) it consists solely of figures, except where this is an established practice for designating
varieties,
b) it is identical or may be confused with the denomination of another variety of the same or
of a closely related species in the Czech Republic, a contractual or a member country,
c) it liable to mislead evoking false impressions  concerning the value, characteristcs or
origin of the variety or the identity of the breeder,
d) it is identical to or may be confused with a trademark, apellation of origin or geographical
indication for the same or similar products  or otherwise infringing the rights or
safeguarded interests of other persons,
e) it is unsuitable for linguistic reasons.
CHAPTER III
PROCEEDINGS IN THE MATTER OF GRANT ING PROTECTIVE RIGHTS TO PLANT
VARIETIES
Article 8
(1) Breeder who is a citizen of the Czech  Republic or is a legal person having its
registered office in the Czech Republic or w ho is a national or a legal person having its
registered office in a member or contractual c ountry (hereinafter "the applicant") may file an
application for granting protective rights to a pl ant variety (hereinafter "the application"). An
application may be filed jointly by several applicants.
(2) The Institute may grant the eligibility for filing the application to persons who do
not qualify under the provisions of paragraph 1, provided:
                                                     
7 Article 2 (f) of Act 92/1996 Coll.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 6
a) they are citizens of a country which provi des similar protection of  plant varieties of
the same botanical taxon to persons fro m member or contractual countries, or
b) they are legal persons having a registered  office in a country which provides similar
protection of plant varieties at the same level of botanic al classification to persons
from member or contractual countries.
Article 9
The application must contain the following
a) the applicant's name, surname and permanent residence address provided he is a
natural person or in case of a legal person, its business name, registered office and
legal form.
b) the plant genus denomination in Latin a nd Czech or another level of botanical
classification, if appropriate,
c) the proposed variety denomination or its provisional designation,
d) information about all previous  applications seeking protection in the past for the
variety in question,
e) information on previous exploitation of the variety,
f) the variety description.
Article 10
Protective rights to a variety may be grante d to a breeder who filed an application for
granting such rights with the Institute. Should mo re than one breeder have jointly participated
in the variety creation, the granted protective righ ts to such protected variety shall be shared
equally, unless stipulated otherwise in a written agreement between them.
Article 11
(1) The Institute shall enter the application in the list of applications in succession by
delivery date and will examine whether the variety may be subject to protective rights,whether there are no obstacles hindering furt her proceedings for granting protective rights
and whether an administrative fee has been paid.
(2) Should the application not comply with the details and requirements stipulated by
this Act or should obstacles exist hindering fu rther proceedings, the Institute will invite the
applicant to make corrections. If the applicant fails, within the time limit, to correct defects,the Institute shall halt the proceedings, provi ded the applicant has been notified of such
consequence in the above invitation.
Article 12
(1) If more applications for granting the protective rights to the same variety have
been filed with the Institute, such right may only be granted to one applicant, i.e. the one,whose application was submitted first; the priority right resulting from an earlier filing of theIP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 7
application in any member country must be  honoured, provided further conditions specified
by this Act have been met.
(2) Should the applicant file an application in another member country prior to filing
an application in the Czech Republic, he will enjoy the priority right in respect of filing forthe same plant variety in the Czech republic ove r a period of 12 months of filing his previous
application in another member  country, provided such right has been exercised in the
application filed with the Ins titute. The priority right will not  be taken into account unless
within three months of filing the applicati on with the Institute, the applicant submits a
certified copy of his previous applica tion filed in anothe r member country.
Article 13
(1) The Institute will publish the following information in the Bulletin of the Ministry
of Agriculture (hereinafter "the Bulletin"):
a) information on applications filed in succession by filing date including information
regarding the applicants [Article 9 (a)],
b) change to the proposed variety denomination or the proposed variety denomination, if
the application included only a provisi onal designation [A rticle 9 (c)].
(2) Anyone may object with the Institute against:
a) a filed application, by the latest until th e decision under Article 11 (2) or Article 16
has been issued,
b) the proposed variety denomination, by the late st within three months of its publication
in the Bulletin.
(3) Objections under paragraph 2 will be reso lved by the Institute by the latest until
the decision under Article 11 (2) or Article 16 has been issued. The Institute makes the
decisions on objections; no appeal  lies against such decision.
Article 14
(1) After all details and re quirements under Article 11 (1),  have been complied with,
the Institute will examine whether the plant variety meets the conditions of being novelty,
distinctness, uniformity and stability and whether the proposed variety denomination
complies with the conditions stipulated under Article 7. Compliance with the requirements of
distinctness, uniformity and stability is ascertained using field and laboratory tests. Whenexamining the plant varieties to ascertain compliance with the conditions of being clearlydistinguishable, uniform and stable, the Institute may use the results of examinationsperformed by professional institutions abroad.
(2) The applicant shall be obliged
a) to provide to the Institute the plant material necessary for the examination of the
variety according to paragraph 1, within a reasonable period prescribed by theInstitute,
b) to reimburse the Institute for expenses in curred in connection with the performance of
special acts during the proceedings for granting plant breeder's rights.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 8
Article 15
Transfer of Application
During the proceeding for granting plant breeder's rights, the application can be
transferred to another person onl y with the applicant's consent.
Article 16
Breeder’s Certificate
(1) The Institute shall grant the applicant the plant breeder's right to a plant variety
and shall approve the proposed variety deno mination by the issuance of a breeder’s
certificate, provided all conditions stipulated by this Act have been met; otherwise theproceeding shall be terminated.
(2) The breeder’s certificate shall include the denomination of the species to which the
plant variety belongs, variety denomination, na me, surname, permanent residence address or
business name, registered office and legal form of the holder. The certificate will also includethe plant variety description prepared on the ba sis of the results of tests of distinctness,
uniformity and stability.
Article 17
Using the Variety Denomination
(1) Everyone offering or providing for use material of the protected plant variety or
variety under Article 19 (4), is obliged to us e the approved variety denomination. Should this
variety denomination be used in a written form together with a trademark, brand or otherspecification, it must be clearly dis tinguishable from such specification.
(2) Denomination of a protected variety or  a variety protected in another member
country or denomination, which may be confused with such denomination, may not be used
for another variety of the same or related species.
(3) The provisions of paragraph 1 and 2 sh all apply also for the period after the
termination of the plant breeder's right duration.
Article 18
Variety Maintenance Control
(1) The holder shall be obliged to ensure the maintenance of the protected variety over
the entire period of the plant breeder's right duration to make sure that the characteristicsspecifying the variety remain unchanged.
(2) The Institute performs verification testing to control the maintenance of the
protected variety. The execution of this control is regulated by a special Act
8, unless this Act
stipulates otherwise.
(3) The employees of the Institute entrusted with the execution of control are entitled
to enter grounds, companies and their branch o ffices, premises, establishments and facilities
                                                     
8 Act No. 552/1991 Coll., on state control, as amended.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 9
in which the holder or a person entrusted by him handles the protected variety, and request
from such persons necessary documentation, in formation and co-operation for a smooth and
fast performance of control including allowing them to take necessary quantity of controlsamples of material of the protected variety. Samples are provided free of charge.
(4) Upon request by the Institute, the holder is also obliged to deliver free of charge
and within reasonable time limit specified by the Institute, material of the protected plantvariety required for the performance of control tests.
CHAPTER IV
SCOPE OF PROTECTIVE RIGHS
Article 19
(1) The holder has the sole authority to use the protected variety consisting of the right
to exploit the propagating material of such variety as follows:
a) production or propagation,
b) conditioning for the purpose of propagation,
c) offering for sale,
d) sale or other marketing,
9
e) export,
f) import,
g) stocking for the purposes speci fied under letters a) to f).
(2) The holder may provide his consent w ith the use of the protected variety
(hereinafter "the license") to a third person; the license is provided in writing and mustinclude an agreement on the license charge.
(3) The provisions of paragraph 1 and 2 also relate to the harvested material of the
protected variety, including w hole plants and their parts, if acquired from the propagating
material of the protected va riety without a license provide d by the holder who could not
exercise these rights in respect of the above propagating material.
(4) The provisions of paragraph 1 to 3 also relate to:
a) varieties essentially derived from the protected variety,
b) varieties which are not distin ct from the protected variety,
c) varieties whose production requires the re peated use of the protected variety.
(5) If the protected variety itself is a essentially derived variety, the exclusive right to
such variety held by the holder does not in clude varieties derived from such variety.
(6) Varieties shall be considered as essentially derived from another variety
(hereinafter "the initial variety"), if:
a) they are predominantly derived from the initial variety or from a variety which itself
is essentially derived from the initial variety,
                                                     
9 E.g. Article 151 (b), 628 of the Civil Code, as amended.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 10
b) are distinct from the initial variety, and
c) except for the differences which result from the act of derivation, it conforms
essentially to the initial variety in the expression of characteristics resulting from thegenotype or the combination of genotypes of the initial variety.
(7) Essentially derived varieties may be obtai ned, in particular, by the selection of a
natural or induced mutation or of a somaclonal variant, the se lection of a variant individual
from plants of the initial variety, backcrossing, or transformation by genetic engineeringmethods.
(8) If a essentially derived variety is a protected variety, then the right of the holder
right to the initial variety is limited with respect to this essentially derived variety to theextent of providing the license for the variety us e to the holder to this variety. The holder to a
essentially derived variety may use this variet y only provided he has a license issued by the
holder to the initial plant variety.
(9) The following exploitation of the propagation material shall not constitute a
breach of the protective rights (paragraph 1)
a) performed for research,
b) performed with the aim to create additional varieties including exploiting such
varieties except for varieties under paragraph 4,
c) performed for own use of a natural person.
(10) In respect of plants specified in Annex 1 of this Act, persons
10 operating in
agricultural production (hereinafter "the growers") shall be entitled to exploit, for the purposeof propagation, without holding a license issued by the holder, to ensure production in their
own business
11 on arable land owned, leased or s ubleased by them, harvested material
acquired on such land through the cultivation of propagating material3 of a protected variety,
except for a hybrid or synthetic variety (hereinafter "farm saved seed").
(11) When exploiting farm saved seed under paragraph 10
a) growers are not limited as to the quantity of their plant production produced on land
used by them for the needs of their business,11
b) growers may process farm saved seed for further sowing and planting either
themselves or by suppliers of processing services,10 (hereinafter "seed processors");
the alteration must be performed in a manner ensuring that the product submitted forprocessing is identical with the resulting product,
c) growers are obliged to pay to the holder only reasonable remuneration for the use of
farm saved seed which is significantly lower than an arms length price of a licence;the obligation to pay reasonable consideration for the use of farm seed does not apply
for small growers.
                                                     
10 Article 2 of the Commercial Code, as amended.
11 Article 5 of the Commercial Code, as amended.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 11
(12) The holder is entitled to request necessary information in writing from growers
and seed processors in relation to the farm sa ved seed of the variety exploited or altered by
them for which protective rights have been granted to the holder.
(13) Growers and seed processors are obl iged, upon request, to provide to the holder,
information in writing about their name, su rname, permanent residence address and
identification number in case of natural pers ons, and business name, registered office,
identification number and legal form in case of legal persons.
(14) Seed processors are obliged, upon request , to provide to the holder information in
writing about the quantity of farm saved seed deliv ered to them for processing, as well as the
resulting quantity of processed seed, the date and location of processing and identification ofthe person for whom the processing was performed.
(15) Growers are obliged, upon request, to provide to the holder, information in
writing about the scope of use of farm saved seed.
(16) The holders are obliged, upon request, to  provide to the breeders information in
writing regarding the amount of reimbursement  to be requested under paragraph 11 (c) .
Article 20
(1) Protective rights do not extend to acts concerning any material of the protected
variety or of a variety under Article 19 (4), which was sold or otherwise marketed in the
territory of the Czech Republic by the holder or  with his consent or the exploitation of any
material derived therefro m, unless this represents
a) further propagation of such varieties, or
b) export of material of such varieties whic h enables their further propagation into a
country that does not protect plant varietie s of the same plant genus or species to
which this variety belongs; this does not a pply provided such material is designed for
final consumption.
(2) Material of plant variety under  paragraph 1 shall be understood as
a) any propagating material of the protected variety,
b) harvested material of the protected variety.
Article 21
Compulsory License
(1) Upon request, the Ministry of Agriculture (hereinafter "the Ministry") may grant a
compulsory license for the exploitation of a protected variety in a manner specified under
Article 19 (1) to one or more persons, if the holder refuses to issue a license for suchexploitation in the required scope and if such exploitation is in public interest. The Ministry
shall inform the Institute about the grant of a compulsory license.
(2) When granting a compulsory license, the Ministry shall stipulate the conditions,
time limitation and scope of the exploitation including the payment of an appropriate royaltyto the holder in respect of such license.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 12
(3) On the expiry of one year after the grant of the compulsory license, each
participant of the proceeding for the grant of the compulsory license may request the Ministryin writing to cancel or amend the decision on the grant of the compulsory license. Only achange of circumstances on the basis of which the decision was made may constitute a reasonfor such request.
(4) The Ministry may grant a compulsory license in respect of an essentially derived
variety based on a proposal of the holder to this  variety if the holder of the initial variety
refuses to provide a license for the exploitation of the essentially deri ved variety and if such
exploitation is in public interest.
CHAPTER V
SANCTIONS
Article 22
(1) Any person who violates an obligation sti pulated by this Act or who obstructs the
execution of control performed under this Act shall be liable to a fine imposed by the
Institute, not exceeding CZK 500,000.
(2) When determining the amount of the fine the Institute shall ta ke into account the
importance, manner, duration, c onsequences of the wrongful act and circumstances under
which such act occurred.
(3) Proceeding on imposing penalty may be opened by the latest within one year of
the day when the Institute established the violation.
(4) Fines are imposed and collected by the Institute. The revenue from the fines
represents the Czech Republic's state budget reve nue. Fines are levied by the financial office
with territorial jurisdiction.
12 Enforcement is performed in accordance with a special legal
regulation.13
CHAPTER VI
COMMON, TRANSITORY AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 23
Duration of the Plant Breeder's Rights
 (1) The plant breeder's rights may be maintained until the end of the twenty-fifth year
after the year in which the granting of such rights came into effect; for protected varieties oftrees, hops, vines and potatoes, the plant breede r's rights may be maintained until the end of
the thirtieth year following following the year in which the granting of such rights came intoeffect.
                                                     
12 Act No. 531/1990 Coll., on financial offices with territorial jurisdiction, as amended.
13 Act No. 337/1992 Coll., on the administration of taxes and fees, as amended.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 13
(2) For the period from filing the application until the granting of plant breeder's
rights to a plant variety becomes legally effective, the holder is entitled to a reasonablecompensation from each person who during such  period exploited the plant variety in a
manner which would require gran ting a license by the holder after such rights have been
granted.
Article 24
Transfer of the Plant Breeder's Rights
(1) The holder may transfer the protective rights to the protected plant variety to a
third person based on a written contract. If protective rights to the same protected varietybelong to more persons, the share in such rights may be transferred to any of the co-holderswithout consent of the rest of them; a co-holde r may transfer his share to a third person only
provided none of the other co-holders accepts hi s written offer for transfer within one month
upon its delivery.
(2) Unless this Act stipulates otherwise, the relations between the co-holders shall be
governed by the Civil Code.
(3) A contract on the transfer of protective rights to a protected plant variety or on the
transfer of a share of protective rights to a protected plant variety becomes effective on theday of its entry to the Register of Protected Plant Varieties kept by the Institute. The Institutewill make the entry after the administrative fee under special legal regulation
14 has been paid.
Article 25
Termination and Cancellation  of the Protective Rights
(1) The protective rights shall terminate upon the expiry of the period stipulated by
this Act or if the holder fails to pay the administrative fee as per the special legal regulation14
even after a written notification by the Institute within a period specified by the Institute, or ifthe variety owner renounces his plant breeder's right in writing to the Institute.
(2) Before the expiration of the protective rights the Institute shall terminate such
rights if the protected plant variety no longer  meets the condition of being uniform and stable
or if the holder fails to comply with his obligation under Article 18 (1) or (2).
(3) If it is revealed that at the time of the issuance of the plant breeder's certificate
effectively granting protective rights, not all the conditions for their granting have been met,the Institute shall cancel such plant breeder's certificate; in such case the protective rightsgranted shall be regarded as null and void.
Article 26
(1) The inception, end, cancellation of protectiv e rights, transfer of or any change to
protective rights to a protected plant variety,  compulsory license, change of name, surname,
business name, permanent reside nce address or registered office of the holder, shall be
                                                     
14 Act No. 368/1992 Coll., on administrative fees, as amended.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 14
entered in the Register of Protected Varietie s kept by the Institute; information about the
above facts is published by the Ministry in the Bulletin.
(2) Upon request by a contractual party, granting a license under Article 19 (2) may
also be entered in the Register  of Protected Plant Varieties.
Article 27
Resolution of Disputes
(1) Disputes resulting from legal relations established on the basis of this Act shall be
discussed and decided by courts.
(2) In case of an infringement of a right protected under this Act, the person whose
right has been threatened or infringed may claim from the infringer to refrain from suchacting and correct the defect. If the infringement caused a damage, the damaged is entitled tocompensation. In case of non-pecuniary dama ges the damaged is entitled to reasonable
satisfaction which may consist of financial compensation.
(3) Upon request by the damaged person, th e respective court may decide that the
plant propagating material or harvested material to which the infringement of the exclusiverights of the holder relates and which is held by the person infringing the exclusive rights of
the holder shall be destroyed unless the infringem ent of the right may be corrected in another
manner and destruction of plant material w ould be inadequate to  such infringement.
Article 28
(1) Unless this Act stipulates otherwise, the decision-making under this Act shall be
governed by the Rules of Administration
15.
(2) The Institute is entitled to interrupt the pr oceedings indefinitely if requested by the
applicant for serious reasons.
(3) The decision on granting the protective rights will be made by the Institute within
three months
a) after the completion of tests required for the decision or after the receipt of the test
results performed by other professional institutions, and
b) after the expiration of the objection filing deadline under Article 13 (2) (b).
(4) Appeals against the Institute's decisions shall be decided by the Ministry.
Transitional Provisions
Article 29
(1) Proceedings in the matters of plant va riety protection not completed before the
effective day of this Act shall be completed in accordance with this Act.
(2) Unless this Act stipulates otherwise, legal relations that arose before its effective
date shall be governed by this Act; however, the inception of such legal relations and claims
                                                     
15 Act No. 71/1967 Coll., on administrative procedures (Administrative Procedure Code), as amended.IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 15
arising from them before the effective day of this Act shall be resolved in accordance with the
existing regulations.
(3) On the effective day of this Act rights  and obligations under this Act shall become
effective for the owner of breeder's certifi cate granted under the existing regulations; the
duration of such breeder's certificate, howe ver, shall be counted as per Act No. 132/1989
Coll. in the wording of Act No. 93/1996 Coll. Th e exclusive right of the holder to a variety,
which under this Act is considered as an initial va riety, shall not relate to plant varieties for
which the breeder's certificate has been grante d under the existing regulations and which can
be considered as significantly de rived plant varieties under this Act.
Article 30
Protective rights may also be granted to varieties the propagating material or
harvested material of which was not sold or pr ovided for use to third persons by the breeder
or with his consent for more than four years and in case of trees for more than six yearsbefore the effective date of this Act, if the varieties are varieties of genera or plant species ortheir hybrids not covered by the existing regulations. In such case the application for the grantof protective rights must be filed by the latest within one year of the effective day of this Actand at the time of the application filing the variety must be registered in the State VarietyBook (National List) under a special legal regulation
6 or must enjoy legal protection in a
member country. The duration of protective ri ghts specified in Article 23 (1) shall be
shortened in such case by the time calculated from the day of the entry of the plant variety inthe State Variety Book until the effective date of the grant of the protective rights to variety
or by the time calculated from the day of grant the protective rights to variety in the membercountry until the effective date of granting the protective rights to variety under this Act.
Article 31
If before the effective date of this Act a third person, to which the existing regulations
on the protection of rights to varieties do not a pply, exploits the variety of plant genera and
species or the hybrids thereof, the holder under this Act is obliged to allow such third personfree of charge further exploitation of this variety until the end of the year, or, in case of trees,until the end of the second year following after the year in which this Act became effective;
after the expiration of the above period, the hol der is obliged to allow such third person to
further exploit the variety fo r an usual license charge.
PART TWO
Amendment of Act No. 92/1996 Coll., on plant varieties, seed and planting material of
cultivated plants, as amended
Article 32
Act No. 92/1996 Coll. on plant varieties, s eed and planting material of cultivated
plants, in the wording of Act No. 357/ 1999 Coll. and Act No. 153/2000 Coll., shall be
amended as follows:
                                                     IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 16
1. In Article 2 (a) shall be as follows:
,,a)  plant variety means a plant grouping within the lowest rank of botanical
classification, which can be defined by ex pression of characteristics resulting from a
certain genotype or combination of genotyp es, distinguishable from any other plant
grouping by the expression of at least one of  these characteristics and considered as a
unit with regard to its suitability being propagated unchanged,".
2. In Article 8 (2) and (3) shall be as follows:"(2) Variety shall be deemed to be uniform if it is sufficiently uniform in
characteristics which are included in the examination for distinctness, as well ascharacteristics used for the variety description, subject to the variation that may reasonably be
expected from the particular features of its propagation.
(3) A variety shall be deemed to be stable if the expression of the characteristics
included in the examination of distinctness as well as characteristics used for the varietydescription, remain unchanged afte r repeated propagation or, in th e case of a particular cycle
of propagation, at the end of each such cycle".
3. In Article 21, a new paragraph 3 shall be  inserted after paragraph 2 as follows:
"(3) For the purpose of import and marketing,  ornamental varieties of species listed in
the list of species shall be considered as varieties of species not listed in the list of species ".
The existing paragraph 3 sh all become paragraph 4.
4. In Article 22 (2), the following sentence shall be added at the end of subparagraph
g): "For fruit trees, hops and vines the maintainer  of variety not protected under special legal
regulation
3 must express his consent only in respect of  the certification of the mother stocks,
buds and rootstocks.".
5. In Article 31, a new paragraph 3 shall be  inserted after paragraph 2 as follows:
"(3) For species not listed in the list of  species, the registration obligation under
paragraph (1) shall not relate to a person producing or putting into market commercialpropagating material of ornamental species.".
The existing paragraph 3 and 4 sha ll become paragraph (4) and (5).
PART THREE
REPEALING PROVISIONS
Article 33
The following is hereby repealed:
1. Act No. 132/1989 Coll., on the legal protection of  new varieties of plants and breeds of
animals, as amended by Act No. 93/1999 Coll. and Act No. 206/2000 Coll.
2. Decree No. 133/1989 Coll. implementing some of the provisions of Act No. 132/1989 on
the legal protection of new va rieties of plants and breeds of animals , as amended by
Decree No. 514/1999 Coll.
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3. Decree No. 134/1989 Coll. setting out the list of  economically significant genera and
species of plants and animals, as amended by Decree No. 515/1999 Coll. and Decree No.
118/2000 Coll.
PART FOUR
FORCE
Article 34
This Act shall enter into force on 1 February 2001.
Klaus  by own hand
Havel  by own hand
Zeman  by own hand
Annex No. 1 to Act No. 408/2000 Coll.
Plant Species List [Article 19 (10)]
a) Cereals:
Avena sativa L. Oats
Hordeum vulgare L. Barley
Secale cereale L. Rye
Triticosecale Wittm. Triticale
Triticum aestivum L. emend. Fiori et Paol. Common wheat
Triticum durum Desf. Durum wheat
Triticum spelta L. Spelt wheat
b) Fodder plants:
Lupinus luteus L. Yellow lupin
Medicago sativa L. Lucerne
Pisum sativum L. (partim) Field pea
Trifolium alexandrinum L. Berseem/Egyptian clover
Trifolium resupinatum L. Persian clover
Vicia faba L. Field bean
Vicia sativa L. Common vetchIP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
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c) Potatoes:
Solanum tuberosum L. Potatoes
d) Oil and fibre plants:
Brassica napus L. (partim) Swede rape
Brassica rapa L. (partim) Turnip rape
Linum usitatissimum L. Linseed (except flax)IP/N/1/CZE/P/1/Rev.1
Page 19
Annex No. 2 to Act No. 408/2000 Coll.
Maximum area of arable land [Article 19 (11) (c)]
1. 2. 3. 4.
Average price category of
agricultural land
(including arable land) in
cadastral areas*Conversion coefficient
(ph)****
Category
denomination CZK/m2Average yield
of cereals
in t/ha**Maximum area
(ha) of arable
land on which a
small grower
operates ***
Conversion
coefficient
symbolConversion
coefficient
value
va less than
3.53.40 va          27 ka 1
vb 3.51-4 3.91 vb          23 kb 1.17
vc 4.01-6 4.17 vc          22 kc 1.23
vd 6.01-8 4.73 vd          19 kd 1.42
ve more than
85.51 ve          17 ke 1.59
Maximum acreage calculation formula:
va x ka + vb x kb + vc x kc + vd x kd + ve x ke = phExplanation of symbols used in the maximum acreage calculation formula:
va, vb, vc, vd, ve - maximum land acreage in individual categories according
to column 3
ka, kb, kc, kd, ke - conversion coefficients according to column 4,
ph - converted value (maximum acreage).
* Decree No. 215/1995 Coll. stipulating the list of cadastral areas and their adjoined average
prices of agricultural land in the wording of Decree No. 282/1996 Coll., Decree No. 285/1997
Coll., Decree No. 262/1998 Coll. and Decree No. 298/1999 Coll.
** Average yield is determined based on supporting documentation on actual cereal yield for the
period 1995 through 1999.
*** Acreage is determined based on the criterion of maximum harvest production of 92 tons of
cereals which is based on Article 14(3) of the Council Regulation No. 2100/94 of 27 July1994 and the Commission Regulation No. 1768/95 of 24 July 1995.
**** If the price of the arable land on which the small plant breeder is operating falls into more
categories, then the acreage of land pertaining to each individual category according to
column 1 shall be multiplied by the conversion coefficient. Individual multiples are added and
if the summary of acreage of arable land is lower than 27 ha, the maximum acreage of arableland on which a small plant breeder operates, is met.
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