5.3.1 IVDS Submissions

Also in this Chapter:

• 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

Key Legislation:

Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994:

• s34 Detailed description in support of application to be given to Registrar
• s37 Test growing of plant varieties
• s41 Essential derivation for PBR-protected varieties--test growing
• s41E Essential derivation for non-PBR-protected varieties--test growing

On this Page

• Requirements for Detailed Description Submissions
• Submission of Detailed Description to IVDS
• Finalising edited descriptions

Requirements for Detailed Description Submissions

A detailed description in support of an application for PBR must be provided to the Registrar as soon as practicable after, but not later than 12 months after, the application has been accepted. The detailed description must contain the following information as set out in s34(4) of the PBR Act:

• Particulars of the characteristics that distinguish the candidate variety from the closest varieties of common knowledge (VCKs);
• Particulars of any test growing conducted as required under s37 of the Act to establish that the variety is distinct, uniform and stable;
• If the variety is an essentially derived variety, particulars of any test growing conducted as required under s41 or s41E of the Act; and
• If the variety was bred outside of Australia, particulars of any test growing completed outside of Australia to establish that the variety will, if grown in Australia, be distinct, uniform and stable. 

Detailed descriptions must also be accompanied by a certificate completed by the Qualified Person (QP) nominated in the Part 1 Application Form for the application verifying the particulars of the detailed description. 

Submission of Detailed Description to IVDS

Detailed descriptions are lodged by the QP associated with each application via the Interactive Variety Description System (IVDS). All descriptions must be submitted as a draft in the first instance. 

PBR Examiners download the draft descriptions submitted to IVDS and obtain these as Microsoft Word documents. These raw documents are formatted into the appropriate template prior to publication of the detailed description in the Plant Varieties Journal and examiners complete any general or technical editing of each raw document as required. 

Finalising edited descriptions

After editing the raw document, the examiner will contact the nominated QP by email for further corrections setting a deadline for a response. The description needs to be finalised by the nominated deadline. In conjunction with the description, a comparative photo is also published in the Plant Varieties Journal which should be captioned. 

Final versions of descriptions are also submitted via IVDS where the examiner will cross-check the final version against the edited raw document to ensure there is no discrepancy between the two versions. If the examiner is not satisfied they will reject the description, providing reasoning as to why the description is unsatisfactory, and return it to the QP for further changes. 

The last line of the detailed description will contain the author's name. This is typically the name of the QP, along with their company name, town and state. 

After finalising the description, photo(s) and captions for photo(s), the examiner will provide the description to the Plant Varieties Journal co-ordinator to prepare for publication.