### Plant Varieties Protection Ordinance 《植物品種保護條例》

14. Objections before grant
(1) Any person who considers that the Registrar should not approve a proposed denomination notified in the Gazette may, within 3 months of its notification in the Gazette under section 13(6)(a), by notice in writing to the Registrar, object to the approval of that denomination.
(2) Any person who considers that an application has been made by or on behalf of an applicant who is not an owner of the variety concerned may, at any time before a grant is made to the applicant in respect of that variety, by notice in writing to the Registrar, object to the making of a grant in respect of that variety to the applicant.
(3) Any person who considers that an application has been made in respect of a variety that is not new, distinct, stable, and homogeneous, as required by section 18(2)(d) may, at any time before a grant is made in respect of that variety, by notice in writing to the Registrar, object to the making of a grant in respect of that variety.
(4) If an objection is made under this section, the Registrar shall not make a grant in respect of the variety concerned before giving the applicant concerned and the objector a reasonable opportunity to be heard.

15. Withdrawal or lapse of applications
(1) Any application may be withdrawn by the applicant at any time before a grant is made in respect of it.
(2) The withdrawal of an application shall not affect the liability of the application for any fees that may have become payable up to the date of that withdrawal.
(3) If any information or material required to be given to the Registrar under section 13(2) or (3) is not supplied within the prescribed period, the application concerned shall lapse upon the expiration of that period.

16. Inspection of applications
After an application is made, the Registrar shall hold it and any document or instrument accompanying it or supplied subsequently pursuant to section 13(2) or (3), or a copy of that document or instrument, certified by the Registrar to be a true copy, available for public inspection during ordinary business hours of the office of the Registrar.

17. Provisional protection
(1) Subject to subsection (2), on and after the day on which an application is made, the applicant shall have the same rights to take proceedings under this Ordinance as if on that day a grant had been made to the applicant in respect of the variety concerned.
(2) The rights conferred by subsection (1) shall be treated as never having been conferred if the—
(a) application concerned is withdrawn or lapses; or
(b) Registrar declines to make a grant in respect of that application.

### Plant Varieties Protection Ordinance 《植物品種保護條例》

19. Varieties bred or discovered and developed by 2 or more persons independently
Subject to section 20, where—
(a) before a grant is made in respect of a variety, 2 or more applications in respect of that variety have been made;
(b) the Registrar is satisfied that the 2 or more applicants concerned are persons who, or successors of persons who, bred or discovered and developed that variety independently; and
(c) the Registrar is satisfied that, but for this section, each of those 2 or more applicants is or would be entitled to a grant in respect of that variety,
the Registrar shall make a grant to that 1 of those 2 or more applicants whose application in respect of that variety was made first.

20. Priority resulting from earlier applications
Where—
(a) any person makes an application for a grant in Hong Kong in respect of a variety in respect of which that person has earlier in a UPOV country made an equivalent application under the law of that country that has been accepted; and
(b) that application for a grant in Hong Kong is made not more than 12 months after that equivalent application or, if more than 1 equivalent application has been made, whether in 1 or in several countries, the earliest of them, was made; and
(c) a claim for priority in relation to that equivalent application accompanies the application for a grant in Hong Kong; and
(d) within 3 months of the making of that application for a grant in Hong Kong, a copy of any documents constituting that equivalent application, certified as correct by the authority to which it was made, is submitted to the Registrar,
sections 18(4)(b) and 19 shall apply to that application for a grant in Hong Kong as if it had been made when that equivalent application was accepted.

21. Cancellation of grants because of earlier applications
Where—
(a) after a grant is made to any person in respect of a variety, another person makes an application in respect of that variety;
(b) the Registrar is satisfied that, if that grant had not already been made, that other person would, by virtue of section 20, be entitled to a grant in respect of that application,
the Registrar shall cancel that grant, and shall make a new grant to the person who would be entitled to it as if the cancelled grant had never been made.

22. Duration of grant
(1) The Registrar shall endorse every grant with the date of its making.
(2) Subject to section 24 (cancellation of grants), every grant shall be in force for a term, commencing on the day it is made—
(a) in the case of any prescribed species, of 25 years, or any longer prescribed period; and
(b) of 20 years in every other case.
(3) The Registrar shall record in the register the date and other prescribed particulars, if any, of every grant.

### Plant Varieties Protection Ordinance 《植物品種保護條例》

23. Objections after grant
(1) Any person who considers that a grant has been made in respect of a variety that is not new, distinct, stable, and homogeneous as required by section 18 may at any time, by notice in writing to the Registrar, object to the continuation in force of that grant.
(2) Any person who considers that a grant was made to a person who was not an owner of that variety may, by notice in writing to the Registrar, object to the continuation in force of that grant.
(3) An objection under subsection (2) may be accompanied by an application in respect of the variety concerned.

### Plant Varieties Protection Ordinance 《植物品種保護條例》

24. Cancellation of grants
(1) The Registrar may cancel a grant at any time during its term if so requested in writing by the grantee.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), the Registrar shall cancel a grant at any time during its term if satisfied that—
(a) any information supplied in the application concerned or in relation to that application was incorrect and that if the correct information had been known before that grant was made, the Registrar would have declined to make that grant;
(b) the variety concerned was not, at the time of the application concerned, new and distinct within the meaning of section 18;
(c) that variety is not stable and homogeneous within the meaning of section 18;
(d) the grantee was not, at the time that grant was made, an owner of that variety;
(e) the grantee of that variety, after being requested by the Registrar to provide the Registrar within a period specified by the Registrar with reproductive material capable of producing that variety with its characteristics as described when the grant was made, has failed to do so;
(f) that grantee, after being requested by the Registrar to allow the Registrar within a period specified by the Registrar to inspect the measures taken for the maintenance of that variety, or to provide documents or information in relation to that variety, has failed to do so;
(g) in any particular year any annual grant fee in relation to the variety concerned which is required to be paid as prescribed, has not been paid;
(h) any stock of reproductive material in relation to the variety concerned which is required to be maintained as prescribed, has not been maintained; or
(i) that grantee has failed to comply with any permission or order granted under section 29(2) in relation to that variety.
(3) Before cancelling a grant under subsection (2), the Registrar shall give the grantee written notice of intention to do so and, unless that grantee shows sufficient cause within 28 days of the date of the notice why that grant should not be cancelled, shall cancel that grant on the expiration of that period.
(4) Where—
(a) the Registrar has cancelled a grant under subsection (2)(d); and
(b) any application, other than the application in respect of which that grant was made, has at any time, whether before or after the making of that grant, been made in respect of the variety concerned,
the Registrar shall deal with all applications in respect of that variety as if that grant had never been made.