WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION  
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE  
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO  IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
11 August 2008 
 (08-3792) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English/ 
 anglais/  inglés 
 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 
LAWS AND REGULATIONS NOTIFIED UNDER 
ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
 
UKRAINE 
  The present document reproduces the text
1 of the Law on the Protection of Rights to Plant 
Varieties, adopted on 21 April 1993, as last amended on 2 November 2006, as notified by Ukraine under Article 63.2 of the Agreement (see document IP/N/1/UKR/1).  
 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriété 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce  
 
 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET RÉGLEMENTATIONS CONSACRÉES À LA 
PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIÉES AU TITRE 
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
 
UKRAINE 
 
 Le présent document contient le texte1 de la Loi sur la protection des droits relatifs aux 
obtentions végétales adoptée le 21 avril 1993, telle  que modifiée en dernier lieu le 2 novembre 2006, 
notifiée par l'Ukraine au titre de l'article 63:2 de  l'Accord (voir le document IP/N/1/UKR/1). 
 
 
 Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio  
 
 
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA 
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD 
DEL PÁRRAFO 2 DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
 
UCRANIA 
 
 En el presente documento se reproduce el texto
1 de la Ley de protecci ón de los derechos sobre 
las obtenciones vegetales, adoptada el 21 de abri l de 1993, modificada por última vez el 2 de 
noviembre de 2006, que Ucrania ha notificado en vi rtud del párrafo 2 del artículo 63 del Acuerdo 
(véase el documento IP/N/1/UKR/1). 
                                                      
 1 In English only. The text in the original language will be available for consultation by interested 
Delegations at the WTO Secretariat./En anglais seulement.   Les délégations intéressées pourront consulter le 
texte dans sa langue d'origine, au Secrétariat de l'OM C./En inglés solamente.  Las delegaciones interesadas 
podrán consultar en la Secretaría de la OMC el texto en su idioma original. IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
Page 2  
 
 
Law  of  Ukraine 
 
On the Protection of Rights to Plant Varieties 
 
No. 3116-XII 
 
As amended and supplemented accord ing to the Laws of Ukraine 
No. 2986-III  of 17 January 2002 
(the present Law was set out in the new wording  
by the Law of Ukraine No. 2986-III  of 17 January 2002) 
and No. 311-V of 02 November 2006 
 
 
 
This Law provides regulation of relationships arisi ng in connection with obtaining, use, protection, 
alienation and termination of the right to plant varieties of Ukraine.  
(preamble as set out in the wording 
of the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006)
 
 
 
Section I. 
 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
 
Article 1. Definition of Terms 
The terms, used in this Law, shall have the following meaning: 
 
author of a variety (breeder)  – the person who directly bred, or di scovered and developed, a variety;  
 
(paragraph two of Article 1 as set out in the wording of 
the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 botanical taxon  means a separate group of plants, which ar e related to each other by a community of 
features and characteristics, thanks to wh ich they can be assigned a taxonomic rank;  
 
 
seed means generative and vegetative or gans of plants which can be used for variety reproduction; 
 use of a variety  means any action with respect to this variet y, defined in the present Law in the list of 
actions that need authorization from a patent holder;  
(paragraph four of Article 1 as amended according to  
the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 patent holder  means a person, who within the period, determined by the present Law, possesses 
proprietary right to a plant variety, which are certified by a relevant patent;  
 
(paragraph five of Article 1 as amended according to  
the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
  IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
 Page 3 
 
 
owner of proprietary right of intellectual property to propagation of a variety means a person, who 
within the period, determined by the present Law,  possesses proprietary rights to propagation of a 
plant variety, certified by a relevant certificate of state registration of the variety; 
 
(Article 1 was supplemented with the new paragraph six 
according to the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006, 
in this connection, paragrap hs six to twenty five  
shall be considered paragraphs seven to twenty six respectfully) 
 Member State  means a state that acceded to the International Convention for the Protection of New 
Varieties of Plants, which was adopted on 2 D ecember 1961 and had been revised on 10 November 
1972, 23 October 1978 and 19 March 1991;   institution of expertise means a scientific institution that is aut horized by the Institution to carry out 
expertise of applications, verify preservation of va rieties and to fulfill other tasks arising from the 
present Law;  
 
application for a plant variety (application)  means a set of documents, necessary for registration of 
the variety and obtaining of protective document s that certify the rights to the variety;  
 
(paragraph nine of Article 1 as amended according to  
the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 applicant  means a person that submitted an application;  
 gathered material  means harvest of plants or their parts, raised from respective planting stock;  
 
competent body of a Member State  means a body of a Member State that registers rights   to varieties;  
 features  means characteristics, by which varieties are distinguishable in the process of expertise of an 
application without taking into consider ation of their economic importance;  
 
person  means physical person or legal entity;  
 patent  means a protective document that certifies prior ity and proprietary right of intellectual property 
to a plant variety;  
 
(paragraph fifteen of Article 1 as set out in the wording of 
 the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 maintainer of a variety means a physical person or legal entity that, within the determined by the 
present Law period of validity of proprietary right to propagation of a plant variety, certified by a certificate of state registration of a plant variety, provides the stability (preservation) of the variety in 
the process of its economic turnover by means of maintaining of characteristics, engendered by a 
certain genotype in accordance with a display that  was recorded during the state registration; 
 
(Article 1 was supplemented with the new paragraph sixteen  
according to the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006, 
in connection with this paragraphs sixteen  to twenty six shall be considered as  
paragraphs seventeen to twenty seven) 
 planting stock  means a material carrier of a variety, plant and their part that is considered to be 
suitable for reproduction of integral plants; 
 IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
Page 4  
 
(paragraph seventeen of Article 1 as set out in the wording of 
the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 
propagation of a variety  means the commercial propagation of a planting stock – material carrier of a 
variety, included into the Register of Varieties; 
 
the Register of Applications means the State Register of Applications for Plant Varieties; 
 the Register of Patents  means the State Register of Rights of Intellectual Property to Plant Varieties; 
 
(paragraph twenty of Article 1 as amended according to  
the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 
the Register of Plant Varieties  means the State  Register of Plant Varieties, suitable for propagation in 
Ukraine; 
 
employer  means a person, either a physical person or legal entity, where (or for which) a breeder 
works under a contract of employment;  
(Article 1 was supplemented with  the new paragraph twenty two 
according to the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006, 
in connection with this paragraphs twenty tw o to twenty seven shall be considered as  
paragraphs twenty three to twenty eight) 
 certificate of authorship of a variety means the protective document that certifies the personal non-
proprietary right of authorship of the variety; 
 
certificate of state registration of a plant variety  means the protective document that certifies the 
proprietary right of intellectual propert y to propagation of plant variety; 
 
(Article 1 was supplemented with the new paragraph twenty four 
according to the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006, 
in connection with this paragraphs twenty f our to twenty eight shall be considered as  
paragraphs twenty five to twenty nine) 
 
plant variety  means a separate group of plants (clone, lin e, hybrid of first generation, population) 
within the framework of a lower out of known botani cal taxons, which,  irrespective of whether or not 
it completely satisfies the conditions  of formation of the legal norm: 
 
(paragraph twenty five of Article 1 as amended according to  
the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 
- can be defined by the degree of the display of characteristics, that are caused by a certain 
genotype of a certain combination of genotypes;  
 - can be distinguishable from any ot her group of plants by the degree of the display of at least 
one of these characteristics; 
 
- can be considered as a comprehensive whole fro m the point of view of its suitability for 
reproduction of integral plants in an unchanged form.  
(paragraphs twenty six to twenty eight of Article 1 set out in the new wording  
of the Law of Ukraine No. 2986-III  of 17 January 2002) 
  IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
 Page 5 
 
 
The Institution  means  the governmental body on issues of legal protection of intellectual property to 
plant varieties that operates as a part of the centr al body of executive power on issues of agrarian 
policy.   
(paragraph twenty nine of Article 1 as amended according to  
the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
  
Article 2. Legislation of Ukraine regarding the rights to plant varieties 
 The legislation of Ukraine regarding the rights to  plant varieties is based on the Constitution of 
Ukraine and consists of the Civil Code of Ukraine,  the present Law, international agreements in the 
sphere of protection of the rights to plant varie ties, the consent to the obligatoriness of which was 
given by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and ot her legislative and regulatory acts, adopted in 
pursuance of them.  
 
(The Law was supplemented with Article 2 acco rding to the Law of Ukraine No. 2986-III  
of 17.01.2002, therefore, 
the numbering of Articles changed 
 in accordance with this and other additions  set forth below; 
Article 2 as set out in the wording of the Law No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 
Article 3. The scope of application of the present Law 
 The present Law is applied to all varieti es of all genera and species of plants. 
 
(The Law was supplemented with Article 3 
according to the Law of Ukraine No. 2986-III of 17.01.2002) 
 
 
The norms of the present Law regarding the determina tion of the suitability of propagation in Ukraine 
shall not be applied to plant varieties that are used with decorative purposes.  
 
(Article 3 was supplemented with part two  
according to the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 
Article 3
1. Subjects of the rights to plant varieties 
 
Subjects of the rights to plant varieties shall be: 
 
1) author (authors) of a plant variety;  
 2) other persons that acquired proprietary rights of intellectual property to plant variety in 
accordance with an agreement or the laws of Ukraine. 
 
 (The Law was supplemented with Article 3
1  
according to the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 
Article 4. Application of norms of international agreements 
 
If an international agreement, the consent to th e obligatoriness of which was given by the Verkhovna 
Rada of Ukraine, contains the rules other than t hose specified in the present Law and legislative and 
regulatory acts, the rules of that inte rnational agreement shall be applied. 
 IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
Page 6  
 
(The Law was supplemented with Article 4  
according to the Law of Ukraine No . 2986-III  of 17 January 2002; 
 therefore, the numbering of Articles changed in accordance with this 
 and other additions set forth below) 
 
Article 5. Rights of foreign persons and stateless persons 
 
Foreign persons and stateless persons acquire, exerci se and use the protection of the rights to plant 
varieties according to the present Law equally with  citizens and legal entities of Ukraine, except for 
cases, explicitly envisaged by the present Law, ot her legislative acts of Ukraine and international 
agreements.   
 
(Article 5 as set out in the wording 
of the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 
Article 6. Authorities of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in the sphere of protection of the 
rights to plant varieties 
 
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine shall:  direct and coordinate activities of central bodies of executive power in the implementation of the 
present Law; 
 issue legislative and regulatory acts in the matters of protection of the rights to plant varieties and oversee their implementation, appoint and resign the Chief of the Institution and his or her Deputies, 
nominated by the central body of executive power on issues of agrarian policy; 
 
(paragraph three of Article 6 as amended according to  
the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 organize international cooperation in matters of the protection of the rights to plant varieties; 
 
establishes consultative and advisory bodies to ensu re the efficiency of implementation of its 
authorities in the sphere of protection of the rights to plant varieties in the provision of constitutional 
rights and freedoms of citizens of Ukraine as to regulation of their proprietary and non-proprietary 
relations, originating as a result of acquiring, exerci sing and protection of the intellectual property to 
plant varieties. 
 
(Article 6 was supplemente d with paragraph five 
according to the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 
Article 7. Authorities of the central body of executive power in the sphere of intellectual 
property 
 
The central body of executive power in the s phere of intellectual property takes part: 
 in the realization of the state policy in the sphere of protection of the rights to plant varieties as objects of intellectual property; 
 
in control of the implementation of the present Law;  in setting out general requirements for regulatory pr ovision of the protection of the rights to plant 
varieties; 
  IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
 Page 7 
 
 
in preparing expert conclusion as to names of variet ies in the part of their relation to marks for goods 
and services and indication of origin of goods;  in generalization of the practice of application of the legislation of Ukraine regarding the rights to 
plant varieties, development of proposals to perfect it and submission of such proposals for 
consideration of the Cabinet of Ministers of Uk raine in accordance with th e established procedure; 
 in international cooperation in matters of the protection of the rights to plant varieties. 
 
(Article 7 as set out in the wording 
of the Law of Ukraine No. 2986-III  of 17 January 2002) 
 
Article 8. Authorities and responsibilities of the central body of executive power on issues of 
agrarian policy in the sphere of the protection of the rights to plant varieties  
  
(Title of Article as amended according to  
the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 The central body of executive power on issues of agrarian policy shall: 
 
(Paragraph one of Article 8 as amended according to  
the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 
 provide for the realization of the state policy in the s phere of protection of the rights to plant varieties; 
 
organize and controls the implementation of the present Law; 
 approve legislative and regulatory acts regarding pr eparation and submission of applications, carrying 
out of their  expert examination and control their observation;  issue patents for plant varieties and certifi cates of authorship for plant varieties; 
 
provide the development of the scientific and technical  potential in the sphere of the protection of the 
rights to plant varieties;  coordinate the formation of and implementation of international sci entific and technical programs and 
projects related to the protection of the rights to plant varieties under joint coordinating agreements; 
 
(Article 8 was supplemented with the above paragraph 
according to the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 promote the development of the innovative activities in  the field of studying plant varieties and the 
protection of the rights to plant varieties; 
 
(Article 8 was supplemented with the above paragraph 
according to the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 
make the state order (order for government acco unt) of qualifyi ng expert examination (expert 
examination on the merits) of new plant varieties.  
(Article 8 was supplemented with the above paragraph 
according to the Law of Ukraine No. 311-V of 02.11.2006) 
 IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
Page 8  
 
Article 9. Authorities and responsibilities of the Institution in the sphere of the protection of the 
rights to plant varieties 
 
The Institution shall provide the realization of th e present Law and other legislative and regulatory 
acts regarding the protection of the rights to plan t varieties and shall fulfill the following functions:  
 
to generalize the practice of application of the le gislation of Ukraine regarding the rights to plant 
varieties, develop proposals to perfect it and s ubmit such proposals for consideration of the central 
body of executive power in the sphere of ag rarian policy in accordan ce with the established 
procedure; 
 
to designate authorized institutions of expert exam ination, register them and commission them with 
performing the expert examination of applications;   to develop drafts of legislative and regulator y acts regarding preparation and submission of 
applications and submit them for approval to the central body of executive power in the sphere of 
agrarian policy;  to organize the receiving of  applications, performi ng of their expert examination and make decisions 
in relation to the applications;  
to maintain the Register of Applications, the Regist er of Patents and the Register of Plant Varieties 
and provide the state registration of appl ications, patents and plant varieties; 
 to organize the checks of the stability (preservation) of plant varieties;  
to provide the control over the observation of provisi ons of the present Law that relate to the use of 
names of plant varieties;  to provide the publication of official information regarding patents issued for plant varieties and 
certificates of authorship of plant varieties in international organizations in accordance with the 
legislation in force; 
 
to pass legislative and regulatory  acts in accordance with the estab lished procedure within the scope 
of its authorities;  to organize the informational and publishing activities in the sphere of the protection of the rights to 
plant varieties; 
 to organize scientific research activities in the field of perfection of the legislation and activities in the 
sphere of the protection of the rights to plant va rieties, perfection of expert examination of the 
suitability for propagation of plant varieties;    
to organize the activities on training and retraining of personnel of the state system of the protection 
of the rights to plant varieties;  to commission the institutions of the state system of  the protection of the rights to plant varieties, 
according to their respective specia lization, as well as the institutions of expert examination, with 
certain tasks, as determined in the present Law, th e Provision of the Institution, other legislative and 
regulatory acts in the sphere of the protection of intellectual property;  to fulfill other functions according to the Provision about the Institution, approved in accordance with 
the established procedure; 
  IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
 Page 9 
 
 
to perform post-registration studying of plant va rieties, duplication of new and prospective plant 
varieties;  to create and disseminate scien tific and technical production; 
 
to approve sectoral and interdepartmental program s of research and development activities in the 
sphere of the protection of the rights to plant varieties;  to act as customer in the creation of scientific and t echnical production, take part in the manufacturing 
application of results of completed scien tific and technical development works; 
 
to take part in the development of regulator y documents for the sectoral use for production,  
processes, services in cases of th e absence of national standards or necessity of setting forth of 
requirements that exceed or supplement the requirements of national standards;  
to organize and / or take part in international events of scientific direction (forums, symposia, 
conferences and so forth), coordinate the  participa tion of scientific institutions  in activities of foreign 
and international scientific associations and unions in  the capacity of members thereof in the sphere of 
the intellectual property to plant varieties;  to determine and approve, with coordination of  respective bodies of executive power, financial and 
economic standards, rates of paym ents for performing of works, provision of paid services by the 
institutions of expert examination of the state system of the protection of the rights to plant varieties, and perform, within the scope of its authorities,  the control over observance of these standards. 
 2. The Institution can be authorized by the cen tral body of executive power on issues of agrarian 
policy to perform the management of property of the institutions of expert ex amination that belong to 
state property, establish the, reorganize and liquida te them, sign and terminate contracts with their 
chiefs.  3. Activities of the Institution shall be financed by the State Budget.  
Section II 
 
CONDITIONS OF ACQUIRING THE RIGHTS  OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TO 
PLANT VARIETIES 
  
Article 10. Rights to plant varieties 
 
The right to variety shall be protected by the st ate and certified by a patent. Patents for variety 
certifies the authorship to variety a nd an exclusive right of its use. 
 The patent for variety shall be valid during 20 years from the date of filing of an application to the 
State Patent Office of Ukraine. The validity peri od for grapes, wood and fruit cultures shall be 30 
years. On petition of a patent owner the validity of  a patent may be extended by the State Patent 
Office of Ukraine for a period not exceeding 10 years. 
 
Article 12. Conditions of suitability of plant variety for the acquiring of the rights of intellectual 
property to it 
 
1. Varieties of the sort that the right can cover may be clone, first generation hybrid, polutation.   2. Sort is deemed suitable for the acquisition of the right to itas an object of intellectual property if it 
is new and meets the criteria of difference, homogeneity and stability. IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
Page 10  
 
 3. The variety shall be deemed as new if on the date of filing of an application for a patent for variety 
to Derzhpatent of Ukraine, the seed of this variety was not sold or alienated otherwise by an author of 
variety or his employer, determined pursuant to para. 3 Article 8 of this Law, to other persons for the 
use of variety: 
 
- on the territory of Ukraine for more than one year;  - on the territory of any other country for grapes, wood decorative and fruit cultures and forest 
breeds for more than six years and for more than  four years - for any other cultures.  This 
norm shall not be applied to citizens and legal entities of foreign countries where such norm is 
not provided for citizens and legal entities of Ukraine. 
 Concerning varieties of those sorts and types of pl ants, the rights to which were not protected in 
Ukraine but were entered into the Register of Vari eties of Ukraine and were used during the periods 
exceeding those indicated in this paragraph, then when conducting expertise th ey shall be considered 
as those which meet the novelty requirements. Prior ity for such variety shall be established from the 
date of its delivery for progeny test, while the validit y of a patent is reduced for the period from the 
date of delivery of variety for progeny test till the da te of submission of the application to Derzhpatent 
of Ukraine.  
3. Variety shall meet the difference criteria if it has an obvious difference from any other variety 
which is generally known on the date of deliver y of application to Derzhpatent of Ukraine. 
 The issue on whether variety is generally known ca n be established based on the fact of its use, 
indication of variety in official catalogues, info rmation fund or its precise description in one of 
publications or an application. 
 Features allowing to determine the distinct featur es of variety shall be reproduced and clearly 
described.  4. Variety shall be deemed homogeneous if, taking into account specificity of reproduction, plants of 
this variety are rather homogeneous by their features. 
 5. Variety meets the criteria of stability if its b asic features remain unchanged after its reproduction, 
and in case of a special reproduction cycle - at the end of each reproduction cycle.  
Section III 
 
AUTHOR OF VARIETY AND OWNER OF VARIETY PATENT 
 
Article 7. Author of Variety 
 
A citizen, by creative work of whom variety is cr eated, shall be recognized as an author of this 
variety. If variety is created by joint creative work of several persons, they shall be recognized as co-
authors of this variety.  Citizens which have not contributed personally into creation of variety but provided to an author (co-
authors) only technical, organizational or material assistance, or facilitated preparation of materials 
for obtaining the right to variety cannot be deemed as the authors of this variety.  An author (co-authors) of variety shall have the authorship which is an unalienable personal right. 
Authorship to variety shall be protected during the unlimited term. 
  IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
 Page 11 
 
 
Article 8. Owner of variety patent 
 
1. Any person pursuant to Article 3 of this  Law can be an owner of variety patent. 
Patent for variety shall be granted only to its auth or. If variety was created by co-authorship, then the 
right to obtain a patent belongs to all co-authors.  
If several persons created variety independently from each other, then the right to obtain a variety 
patent belongs to the person whose application was submitted earlier to Derzhpatent of Ukraine. 
 2. Any person indicated as an author of variety in the application or an application of an author on the issue of patent to other person shall have the right to obtain a patent provided that the application was 
received by Derzhpatent of Ukraine prior to the decision making on the patent issue. 
 3. An employer shall have the right to obtain a patent if variety was created by an employee - an author of variety - when he was performing his work functions or specific tasks obtained by him from the employer. A written agreement providing for assignmen t of the patent right to the employer shall 
be concluded  between such employee and employer. In this case an author of variety shall have the 
right for remuneration as specified by conditions of that agreement.  If there is no agreement on the assignment of the right  for obtaining a patent between an author of 
variety and an employer, or the employer breached th e terms of the agreement, then the author shall 
retain the right to obtain the patent. 
 
4. The Fund of Inventions of Ukraine shall have the right to obtain a patent if the variety author indicated this Fund in his application prior to the decision making on a patent issue. In this case the 
author of variety shall have the right for remunera tion, equal to the profit which was received by the 
Fund of Inventions of Ukraine from the use of such  variety. A respective written agreement shall be 
concluded  between the author of variety and the Fund of Inventions of Ukraine. 
 
Article 9. The right of the patent owner for variety 
 
1. Use of rights, granted by a patent, shall be  made within the limits established by the  laws. 
 
No person may use a patented variety wit hout  the consent of a patent owner. 
 2. The right of a patent owner shall not be applied to the legal relationships related to the use of a 
patented variety: - for non-commercial purposes; 
- for purposes of carrying out the experiments; 
- as an initial material for raising other varieties; - for goods processing or transit transportation.   3. A patent owner who is an author of variety can assign his patent right to any citizen or legal entity 
which becomes a legal successor of the patent owner. 
 
If a patent owner is not an author of variety, then he can assign the patent right taking into account the 
conditions based on which this right w as obtained from the variety author.   
 A patent owner or his legal successor shall have the right to assign to any citizen or legal entity, in full 
or in part, the rights granted by the patent, on the basis of a license agreement.  According to this 
agreement the patent owner (licensor) transfers the ri ghts (exclusive or non-exclusive) for the use of 
variety to other person (licensee) who will be oblig ed to make license payments to the licensor and 
perform other actions as specified in the agreement.    IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
Page 12  
 
An agreement for the assignment of the patent right a nd a licensing agreement shall be registered with 
the Derzhpatent of Ukraine.  Without re gistration they shall be deemed invalid. 
 4. A patent owner (his legal successor) shall have the right to submit to Derzhpatent of Ukraine for 
official publication an application on  granting an op en license to any citizen or legal entity.  In such 
case the fee for keeping the patent in force shall be reduced by 50% starting from the year following 
the year when the application on granting an ope n license was published. If no one has notified the 
patent owner on his intention regarding the use of variety, he can notify Derzhpatent of Ukraine in 
writing on the revocation of his application.      
A person (persons) wishing to buy an open license sha ll conclude an agreement with the patent owner 
or his legal successor.  Disputable issues regarding the terms of agreement shall be considered in 
court.  Article 10. Alienation of the right to the patented variety  
 
If a patent owner has not used the variety during the first five years beginning from the date when a decision on the issue of a patent was made, and in case when the patent owner  refused to conclude a 
licensing agreement, then the person wishing to use the  variety may apply to  the court for a forced 
non-exclusive license.   
Section IV 
 
OBTAINING OF A VARIETY PATENT 
 
Article 11. Submission of an application 
 
1. Any citizen or legal entity, which has the right to  obtain a variety patent according to Article 3 of 
this Law, can submit an application for a patent to Derzhpatent of Ukraine.   
 2. An application for a patent can be submitted in person, through an author ized person or a patent 
agent.  
 
Citizens residing outside Ukraine, or foreign lega l entities who have permanent residence in other 
countries, shall conduct work related to obtaining of  a patent for variety through patent agents 
registered with Derzhpatent of Ukraine.  
3.  Only citizens of Ukraine who have permanent residence in Ukraine can act as the patent agents. 
Obligations and rights of patent agents, procedur e of their certification and registration shall be 
determined by the Provision on Patent Agents of Uk raine to be approved by Derzhpatent of Ukraine. 
 Article 12. Application for a variety patent  
1. Application for a variety patent shall include: 
 - an application for the issue of a variety patent;  - description of variety to clarify its features and properties to such extent which will be 
sufficient for variety determination.  
 A document confirming that the established fee was paid or confirming the privileges on its payment 
shall be attached to the application.   IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
 Page 13 
 
 
2. The documentary requirements and the procedure of documents considerati on shall be determined 
by Derzhpatent of Ukraine.   a) An application shall be submitted for each variety separately. 
 
Article 13. Name of variety 
 
1. An application for a patent for variety shall indi cate its name.  The name shall allow to identify the 
variety, shall not repeat the name or be different from the name of the already existing variety of the 
same or close botanical type. The name shall not co nsist of figures only, to mislead on the properties, 
origin and purpose of variety or on the author of variety, contradict the principles of public morality. 
 2. If an application for a patent for one and the same variety is submitted in Ukraine and in other 
states, then the name of variety should be the same.  
3. If the variety name does not meet the norms establis hed by para. 1 and 2 of this Article, then, on the 
request of Derzhpatent of Ukraine, the applicant shall, within two months, suggest a new name.  
 4. After obtaining a patent for variety, any person  when using it shall use the name of variety which 
was entered into the State Register  of Plant Varieties of Ukraine. 
 
5. The name of variety can be changed on the appli cant's request, but before the decision on the issue 
of a patent.    
Article 14. Priority of variety 
 1. Priority of variety shall be determined by the date of submission of an application, drawn up in 
compliance with the requirements of Article 12 of this Law, to Derzhpatent of Ukraine. 
 2. Priority can be established by the date of submi ssion of the first application in the Member-state of 
the International Convention on Protection of Selec tion Achievements (convention priority), if the 
application for variety reached Derzhpatent within 12 months from the specified date. 
 
If due to the reasons independent from the applicant the application containing a request to establish 
convention priority has not reached Derzhpatent with in the specified term, then this term can be 
extended for a period not exceeding two months.    
An applicant wishing to use the right of conve ntion priority should indicate it when filing an 
application or within two months from the date of  delivery of the application to Derzhpatent of 
Ukraine and attach a copy of the first applica tion certified by the patent office to which this 
application was submitted.           3. If it was established in the course of the expertis e that identical varieties have the same date of 
priority, then the patent can be issued on the application which provides the grounds on the earlier 
date of its dispatch to Derzhpatent, and if these da tes are the same, then on the application which has 
the earlier registration number of Derzhpatent of Ukraine.    Article 15. Expertise of an application for a variety patent      
 
1. Expertise of an application for a variety patent shall be carried out in stages during three years for 
the date when the application has bee filed.  Derzhpa tent of Ukraine shall have the right to extend the 
specified term of expertise.  IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
Page 14  
 
Expertise includes formal expertise and expertise of an application aimed at verification of its patentability.  2. During expertise an applicant shall have the right:  
to provide additional materials to his app lication, corrections or clarifications; 
personally, through his authorized person or a patent agent take part in consideration of  the issues 
which might arise; familiarize himself(herself) with the results of the variety expertise. 
 
3. Any person who wishes so can study the material s of application right after they have been 
published in the official bulletin.  4. Procedure of submitting materials of experti se for their studying shall be established by 
Derzhpatent of Ukraine. 
 
Article 16. Formal expertise 
 
1. After an application has been received by Derz hpatent of Ukraine an expert body shall carry out, 
within two months, a formal expertise, to verify  availability of necessary documents, compliance with 
the established requirements as per their format. 
 
2. Additional materials received in connection with the application for variety pursuant to para. 2 of 
Article 15 of this Law should not change the essence of the declared variety.    Additional materials change the essence of the declar ed variety if they contain features which were 
not mentioned in the initial materials of applicati on.  Additional materials which change the essence 
of the declared variety shall not be taken into acc ount when considering an application  and can be 
submitted by the applicant in the form of a separate application.  In case of a positive result of the formal expertise of an application, the decision is taken on its further 
consideration and variety priority is established accord ing to Article 14 of this Law, which is notified 
to the applicant in writing. 
 4. If it is established in the course of the formal expertise that the application was executed  for a 
variety which cannot be patented, then the decisi on is taken to refuse to further consider the 
application.  
 
5. If an applicant disagrees with a decision made as a result of the formal expertise, he/she can apply 
to the Appellate Council of Derzhpate nt of Ukraine.  Provision on the Appellate Council is subject to 
approval by Derzhpatent of Ukraine.  6. Materials of the application accepted by Derzhpa tent of Ukraine for consideration shall not be 
given back to the applicant. 
 7. Eighteen months after the date of delivery of an application and in case of a positive decision as a 
result of the formal expertise, materials regarding th e application are published in the official bulletin.  
The contents of materials to be published sha ll be determined by Derzhpatent of Ukraine. 
 
Upon petition of an applicant Derzhpatent of Ukra ine can publish materials regarding the application 
before the established period.  An author of variety shall have the right to re fuse from the publication of his/her name in the 
materials regarding application.    IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
 Page 15 
 
 
 
Article 17.  Expertise of application for patentability 
 
1. Expertise of application for patentability of va riety shall be carried out by an expert body of 
Derzhpatent of Ukraine. 
 
2. If it is established in the course of the applica tion expertise that the variety does not meet the 
patentability requirement, then a decision is made to refuse the issue of a patent, which is notified to 
the applicant in writing.   
3. If the applicant disagrees with the decision on refu sal to issue a patent, he/she can apply to the 
Appellate Council of Derz hpatent of Ukraine. 
 4. If variety does not meet the patentability requireme nt, then a decision is made about the issue of a 
patent. 
 
Article 18. Temporal protection of the rights to variety 
 
1. Temporal protection of the right to variety sh all cover the period from the date of publication of 
materials regarding the application in the official bulletin of Derzhpatent of Ukraine till the decision-
making on the issue of a patent, and it is granted with in the scope of the published variety description. 
 
2. Temporal protection of the rights to variety shall be deemed as invalid if the decision was made to 
refuse to grant a patent, when all possibility to appeal such decision has been exhausted. 
 3. Persons guilty of violating the right of a patent  owner, determined in Article 9 of this Law, 
including the period of temporal protection, shall be responsible according to the effective laws. 
 
Article 19. Variety registration 
 
Based on the positive opinion of the e xpert body with regard to patent ability of variety Derzhpatent of 
Ukraine makes a decision on the issue of a patent fo r variety and makes relevant entries in the State 
Register of Plant Varieties. 
Article 20. Issue of a patent for variety  1. A patent for variety shall be issued by Derzhpate nt of Ukraine after entry of variety in the State 
Register of Plant Varieties of Ukraine within one  month from the date of obtaining the document on 
payment of relevant fee.  If there are several persons , in the name of whom the patent is declared for 
the issue, they shall be granted one patent.  2. Derzhpatent shall determine the form of a patent.  4. Upon request of the patent owne r Derzhpatent of Ukraine shall correct mistakes in his/her patent. 
 
Article 21. Publication of the information on the issue of a patent 
 
1. After decision-making on the issue of a patent De rzhpatent shall publish information in the official 
bulletin which should contain the name of the author (co-authors) of variety, name of variety, its 
description and other data upon determin ation by Derzhpatent of Ukraine. 
 2. A patent owner may apply to Derzhpatent of Uk raine with petition about correction of mistakes in 
the published information on the issue of a patent.  IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
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3. After publication of the said information any pers on shall have the right to familiarize her(him)self 
with the materials of application in the or der stipulated by Derzhpatent of Ukraine. 
 
Article 22. Revocation of the application 
 An applicant shall have the right to revoke his/he r application not later than the date of decision-
making on the issue of a patent.  
Article 23. Preservation of variety 
 A patent owner shall maintain variety during the valid ity term of a patent in such a way as to preserve 
its characteristic features and peculiarities, specified in its description on the date of the establishment 
of priority.  
Section V 
 
TERMINATION OF A PATENT 
 
Article 24. Recognition of a patent as null and void 
 
a) Patent for variety can be recognized as null and void in full or in part in case of : 
non-compliance of variety with the criteria of patentability specified in this Law; 
incorrect indication of the author (co-authors) or a patent owner of variety in the patent.  2.   Objections against the issue of a patent on th e grounds specified in para. 1 of this Article can be 
considered by the Appellate Counc il of Derzhpatent of Ukraine in the presence of the person who has 
submitted its objection. 
 b) Recognition of a patent for variety as null a nd void shall be decided by the court. 
 
Article 25. Early termination of the patent 
 1. Validity of a patent for a plant variety shall be terminated earlier: 
based on the application submitted by the pa tent owner to Derzhpatent of Ukraine; 
in case of failure to pay the patent fee within the established term for keeping the patent in force. 
 2. Derzhpatent of Ukraine shall publish information in  the official bulletin on the early termination of 
a patent for variety. 
 
Section VI 
 
LIABILITY FOR VIOLATION OF THE LAW 
 
Article 26. Liability for violation of the law 
 
Persons who violate this Law shall bear disciplinary,  civil, administrative or criminal responsibility. 
 
Article 27. Dispute settlement related to the application of this Law 
 
Disputes related to the application of this Law sh all be settled in the order prescribed by the laws. 
  IP/N/1/UKR/P/2 
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Section VII 
 
FINAL PROVISIONS 
 
Article 28.  Use of varieties in agriculture 
 
1. Varieties, the rights to which are not protected in  Ukraine, shall be used only after the have been 
subject to the state progeny test and have been included in the Register of Plant Varieties of Ukraine.  Decision on including a variety to the Register of Pl ant Varieties of Ukraine shall be taken based on 
the results of the state progeny test and shall be adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. 
 2. Use of varieties included in the Register of Pl ant Varieties of Ukraine shall be carried out in 
compliance with the provisions of this Law.  
Article 29. Fee and payment for services 
 
The state fee shall be levied for submission of an application, the issue of a patent, maintenance and 
extension of validity of a patent.  Amounts of fee,  term of its payment as well as the grounds for relief 
from the fee payment, reduction of its amount or return  of the fee shall be determined by the laws of 
Ukraine. 
 
The list of other services of Derzhpatent of Ukraine related to ensuring the protection of the rights to 
varieties, and the amounts to be paid shall be dete rmined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. 
 
Article 30. Patenting of plant varieties in foreign countries 
 
1. Citizens or legal entities shall have the right to submit application to relevant agencies of foreign 
countries on the issue of protective documents for plant varieties created in Ukraine. 
 2.  Prior to filing an application for a protective document for variety to the relevant agencies of 
foreign countries an applicant shall submit an appli cation for this variety to Derzhpatent of Ukraine 
and notify on his/her intention. 
 3. In case of violation of the requirements of para. 2 of this Article, an applicant or his/her legal 
successor shall lose the right for a pate nt for certain variety in Ukraine. 
 
Article 31. International agreements 
 
If an international agreement to which Ukraine is  a party establishes the rules other than those 
specified in this Law, the rule of that international agreement shall be applied. 
  
President of Ukraine    L. Kuchma 
    
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