News
February 2025
Tuesday, 11 Feb 2025Plant Variety Registration and Launching of “Apply PVT”
Application to Protect New Plant Varieties Resulting from Breeding
Plant breeding is a series of research and testing activities or assembly and development activities of a variety, with certain methods to produce new varieties. Plant breeding is currently not only carried out through traditional processes such as crossbreeding but also widely carried out through the process of using new technologies such as the use of biotechnology/genetics to identify superior plant traits that are to be passed on to seeds or with artificial mutations. Since the process of assembling new varieties requires a lot of money and time, such new plant varieties produced require legal protection.
As a country member of the World Trade Organization that has ratified the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (“TRIPS”) agreement, Indonesia has adopted a plant variety protection system regulated by TRIPS. Based on Article 27 paragraph (3) letter b of the TRIPS agreement, the protection system for plant varieties is carried out in the form of (i) patents, (ii) the country's own legal system (“sui generis”) or (iii) a combination of patents and the sui generis system. Indonesia adopts a combination of patents and the sui generis system, where the process of forming microbiological plant varieties will receive patent protection while new plant varieties produced will be protected based on the sui generis system.
In Indonesia, plant variety protection (“PVT”) is specifically regulated by Law No. 29 of 2000 (“Law 29/200”). The establishment of Law 29/2000 largely adopted the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Convention), which is an international provision that specifically provides protection for new plant varieties that are formed to protect breeders’ rights, but until this article was written, Indonesia had not yet ratified the UPOV Convention. Law 29/2000 regulates starting from (i) the qualifications of what plants can be protected, (ii) registration procedures, (iii) application examination procedures, to (iv) protection for breeders and variety owners for the commercialization of the plant varieties result. Based on Law 29/2000, plant varieties that can be given PVT include varieties of new, unique, uniform, stable and named types or species. This new variety is intended for all types of plants that reproduce generatively or vegetatively except bacteria, bacteroid, mycoplasmas, viruses, viroid and bacteriophages. This PVT protection is given by the State to breeders/PVT holders for 20 years for annual plants (life cycle less than 1 year) and 25 years for perennial plants.
Similar to other intellectual property rights applications, PVT applications must undergo formal and substantive examinations to prove that the application is appropriate, and the new plant variety meets the new, unique, uniform, stable and named qualifications. However, what distinguishes PVT from other intellectual property rights protection is the existence of temporary protection. In other intellectual property rights, protection is given when it has been created (for copyright) or the application has been registered. Meanwhile, for PVT, protection has been given since it is registered. Temporary protection is given to PVT applications because without temporary protection, variety owners will have difficulty in enforcing the law for violations that occur while the variety is still in the application period. Temporary PVT protection is given after the PVT rights application is declared complete, correct, and the Center for Plant Variety Protection and Agricultural Licensing ("PVTPP") of the Ministry of Agriculture has provided written information to the applicant that their application has been given temporary protection. Temporary protection ends until the issuance of a PVT rights certificate or a permanent rejection letter for PVT rights. Acceptance of PVT rights applications will be recorded in the PVT General Register and announced in the PVT Official Gazette.
There are many benefits that plant breeders, business actors, researchers and farmers in Indonesia will get by applying for PVT registration. In addition to temporary protection so that applicants get protection for the use of the plant variety during the registration process, by registering the PVT rights, applicants can (i) use and/or give permission to other people or legal entities to use varieties in the form of seeds and harvests used for propagation and (ii) ensure that the plant varieties they use or develop cannot be exploited illegally by other parties. In addition, by registering PVT for the new plant variety, the PVT registration will provide evidence that (i) the applicant is indeed the owner of the new plant variety that has certain characteristics stated in the attachment to the PVT rights certificate, (ii) the new variety produced has gone through an inspection process by the PVTPP of the Ministry of Agriculture so that it is different from other plant varieties that previously existed or had PVT rights registered and (iii) the PVT holders can safely use it themselves, transfer or license their rights during the validity period of the PVT.
PVT License is a permit granted by the PVT rights holder to another person or legal entity to use all or part of the PVT rights through a license agreement with the aim of obtaining profits in the form of royalties and profits from the sale of plant varieties for the recipient of the PVT rights. The license agreement is regulated in PP No. 14 of 2004 concerning the terms and procedures for the transfer of plant variety protection and the use of protected varieties, where the government has regulated provisions regarding the content, nature, prohibitions, rights and obligations of the parties, terms and procedures for applying for a license agreement and the termination of the license. The license agreement must be registered at the PVTPP office of the Ministry of Agriculture. If the license agreement is not registered, the license agreement has no legal consequences to third parties.
On December 13, 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture launched the "Apply PVT" application. This application aims to digitize and accelerate the submission of PVT rights applications for plant variety innovations in Indonesia. This application can be accessed on the website page: Home - Aplikasi Pelayanan PVT (Apply PVT). With the presence of "Apply PVT" application, PVT applicants throughout Indonesia can submit applications directly through a digital platform without having to visit the PVTPP Head Office, including monitoring the progress of their applications in real time and downloading certificates digitally. PVT applicants will also receive notifications or reminders regarding the obligation to pay annual PVT rights fees and report the obligations of PVT rights holders. This is expected to reduce distance and time constraints, as well as provide easier, faster, and more transparent access to obtain PVT rights. Although the “Apply PVT” application feature does not yet have a license recordation section, the launching of "Apply PVT" application is an innovation and in line with the target of the Ministry of Agriculture's PVTPP to achieve 1,000 total PVT applications since it first received registration in early 2000. Based on data from the Ministry of Agriculture's PVTPP, the varieties protected by PVT rights in Indonesia continue to grow. PVTPP issued 93 PVT rights certificates in 2023. This achievement is the highest in the history of the issuance of PVT rights certificates which began in 2007.
Disclaimer: This legal news serves as general guidance only and should not be treated as legal advice. If you wish to have further information on this topic, please contact Diyah Ratnajati (dratnajati@rosetini.co.id), Andre Suprapto (asuprapto@rosetini.co.id) or Rosetini Ibrahim (ribrahim@rosetini.co.id).