9.4.1 Fees and Discounts

Also in this Chapter:

• 9.4.2 Copies of Documents/Objections

Key Legislation:

Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994:

• s37(6), (7), (8) Test growing of plant varieties

Plant Breeder's Rights Regulations 1994:

• reg 5 Refund and remission of fees in specified circumstances
• Schedule 1 - Fees Item 6

Related Chapters:

• 11.4.8 Fees and Discounts

Note: IP Australia implemented changes to PBR fees on 1 October 2024. Customers and IP Australia staff should review existing records of payment carefully to ensure any refunds to fees paid are correct. 

On this Page

• Overview
• Discounted Examination Fees
• Centralised Testing Centres (CTCs)
• Discount Entitlement
• CTC Partial Examination Fee Refunds (Overpayment)
• Additional Considerations

Overview

The examination fee is payable at the time of filing the detailed description. If testing is conducted at an authorised establishment (Centralised Testing Centre); or 2 or more varieties are tested simultaneously at the same site in Australia, then the applicant may be entitled to a discounted examination fee.

For the majority of applications, full (undiscounted) examination fees are paid at the earlier of:

• 12 months from when the application is accepted, or
• the date on which the detailed description is provided to IP Australia.

In some cases, if a plant variety has been held in quarantine post entry bio-security, IP Australia may adjust the timeframe above to when the variety was released. Evidence of the quarantine hold is required before any such exceptions are granted. 

If the PBR is granted, the examiner will assess the fees payable at grant and provide a partial refund if a discount is applicable. 

Discounted Examination Fees

Current examination fees are set out in Schedule 1 of the Plant Breeder’s Rights Regulations 1994 (the Regulations).

The Regulations provide for the following discounted examination fees:

6(a)(i): Testing is conducted at a Centralised Testing Centre
A variety tested under s37 of the Act to establish that the variety is distinct, uniform and stable, if the testing is conducted by an authorised establishment (referred to hereinafter as Centralised Testing Centre - CTC), is entitled to a lower examination fee as set forth in Schedule 1. This lower examination fee applies to all applications made through an eligible CTC. 

6(c): Multiple applications are tested simultaneously at the same site in Australia
Where 2 or more varieties are tested simultaneously at the same site in Australia under s37 of the Act to establish that the varieties are distinct, uniform and stable. A complete application and detailed description for each variety must be lodged on the same day by the same approved person or applicant or agent of the applicant.

For the majority of applications, discounts to examination fees are provided in the form of a refund payable after the application has been granted. However, some applicants exclusively conduct testing via eligible CTC and may opt to pay only the discounted fee at the time their examination fee is payable. These applicants will not require a refund. The examination fees paid are assessed by PBR examiners upon completion of the grant checklist, wherein examiners also consider whether the applicant may be eligible for a refund. 

Centralised ​​​​​​​Testing Centres (CTCs)

Authorised establishments are called CTCs. Information about how businesses can become CTCs can be found here. A list of currently registered CTCs is provided in Appendix 3 of the latest issue of the Plant Varieties Journal. 

Discount Entitlement

Refunds will only be made to a person or entity that was the applicant at the time the examination fee was paid (or their current Agent). A current Agent representing the PBR applicant/owner will need to provide a letter of authorisation from the applicant/owner to request a refund on their behalf. 

Fees and the eligibility requirements for fee discounts are provided in Schedule 1 of the Plant Breeder’s Rights Regulations 1994. Furthermore, reg 5 of the Plant Breeder’s Rights Regulations 1994 provides the requirement to refund overpaid fees.

Examination fee was paid on or after 1 October 2024 to present​​​​​​​

Examination fee was paid on or after 1 July 2012 to 30 September 2024​​​​​​​

Examination fee was paid from 1996 to 30 June 2012 

CTC Partial Examination Fee Refunds (Overpayment)

In July 2022, IP Australia informed customers that they may be entitled to a partial examination fee refund if they conducted their trial at an authorised Centralised Testing Centre (CTC) any time after 1996.

All applicants that used a CTC authorised for their plant species were entitled to a discounted examination fee but may have been charged the full fee. For more information about what happened, and why certain customers were affected, please refer to the Doing Business With Us page under the heading “Overcharged examination fees”.​​​​​​​

IP Australia has invited customers to request a refund if eligible. Customers should email the PBR mailbox to request the CTC examination fee refund request forms. When submitting the completed forms, customers should also submit proof of examination fee payment and/or evidence of using a CTC for the variety that is the subject of their refund request. 

Additional Considerations

For variety descriptions based solely on overseas data, no discounts are available.​​​​​​​

When an issue of the Plant Varieties Journal is published on the IP Australia website, the grant examiner (case examiner) applies the examination fee as applicable to each description based on its eligibility to discounts as described in the scenarios above.  

For the multiple application fee discount, consideration of whether the criteria of "detailed description are lodged on the same day" should be assessed based on when the descriptions were lodged in IVDS.