- Home
- 1. Recent Changes
- 2. About this Manual, Quality, and Customer Engagement
- 2.1 Using This Manual
- 2.2 Customer Engagement, Quality Management and Timeliness
- 2.3 Procedures for Updating This Manual
- 3. PBR Process Maps
- 4. Part 1 - Application for PBR and Acceptance
- 4.1 Scope and Nature of Plant Breeder's Rights
- 4.2 Roles in a PBR Application
- 4.3 Form an application must take
- 4.4 Variety Denomination
- 4.5 Prior Sales
- 4.6 Priority
- 4.7 Acceptance or Rejection of PBR Application
- 4.7.1 Prima Facie Case for Breeding of the New Variety
- 4.7.2 Prima Facie Case for Distinctness of the New Variety
- 4.7.3 Breeding Process of the New Variety
- 4.8 Provisional Protection
- 5. Part 2 - Dealing With the Application After its Acceptance
- 5.1 DUS Test Growing in Australia
- 5.1.1 Centralised Testing Centres (CTC)
- 5.1.2 Pre-Examination Trial Agreement (PETA)
- 5.1.3 What to Expect During Field Examination
- 5.2 Overseas DUS Test Reports
- 5.3 Detailed Variety Description
- 5.3.1 IVDS Submissions
- 5.3.2 Further Period to Submit Detailed Description
- 5.3.3 Part 2 Forms and ACRA, GRC Submission
- 5.3.4 Ceasing of Provisional Protection
- 5.4 Public Comments
- 5.5 Withdrawals
- 5.6 Grant or Refusal
- 5.7 Revocation of PBR
- 5.8 Offer to Surrender
- 5.9 Expiry of Plant Breeder's Rights
- 6. Register of Plant Varieties
- 7. Essentially Derived Varieties (EDVs)
- 8. Qualified Persons (QPs)
- 9. Variations and Prescribed Fees
- 10. PBR System User Guides
4.7.3 Breeding Process of the New Variety
Key Legislation
Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994:
s5 Definition of breeding
International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV):
TG/1/3 s4.2.1 General introduction to the examination of distinctness, uniformity and stability and the development of harmonized descriptions of new varieties of plants
Overview
This page will cover information about what breeding means and the processes that are commonly accepted as breeding. This information has been adapted from the Expert Panel on Breeding Report.
Breeding definitions
Section 5 of the Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994 defines breeding as discovery or selective propagation. The Expert Panel on Breeding Report gives further advice about what these words mean.
Discovery
- The word ‘discovery’ has its normal meaning.
- Discovery can happen more than once.
- Discovery doesn’t occur if the variety is commonly known.
- The discoverer is the person that first files for PBR protection (unless there is information saying otherwise).
The person can’t be a discoverer if someone else gives information of the plant’s existence to that person.
Selective propagation
- 'Selective propagation’ has its normal biological meaning.
The scientific basis for assessing if selective propagation has happened is by comparing the candidate plant variety and the population/parent that it came from. The plant variety must demonstrate a clear difference in at least one characteristic.
The applicant must provide evidence that the new variety has been selectively propagated by direct comparison with the source population.
The applicant must provide a declaration specifying how the expression of characteristic(s) of the new variety clearly differs from its/their expression in the source population.
Note: If conclusive evidence is provided that challenges the applicant's claims of discovery and/or selective propagation, the applicant has the opportunity to address that evidence before protection of the variety is withdrawn or revoked.
Eligible breeding processes share three fundamental steps:
- Amassing or locating plant material that is varied enough so its genetic variation can be identified. This could be through natural variation (e.g. spontaneous mutations) or through human intervention (e.g. genetic transformation, cross-pollination, induced mutations, etc.).
- Selecting a plant or group of plants that have a set of desirable characteristics from within the source population.
- Propagating the plant to change the expression of one or more characteristics between the source population and the new variety. This variety would also need to meet criteria for distinctness, uniformity and stability, and non-exploitation.
Methods usually accepted as breeding
The following methods are usually accepted as breeding:
(a) Discovering natural mutations
(b) Inducing artificial mutations
(c) Chance cross-pollination
(d) Deliberate cross-pollination
(e) Any combination of the above
Note: Breeding methods continue to change so it would be inappropriate to limit PBR eligibility to varieties developed by the list of known methods.
Amended Reasons
Amended Reason | Date Amended |
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Fixed link to Chapter 4.7.2 |
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Content migration |