(2) In particular, a variety shall be deemed to be a matter of common knowledge if an application for granting the breeder’s right or for inclusion of the variety in the official catalogue of varieties has been registered in any state and if according to such application the breeder’s right have been granted or the variety has been included in the official catalogue of varieties. A variety shall be deemed to be a matter of common knowledge as of the date of registration of an application.
Section 6
Uniformity of a Variety
A variety shall be deemed to be uniform if plants thereof, which have been propagated observing the particular features of the variety propagation, are sufficiently uniform in respect of the characteristic features of the variety.
Section 7
Stability of a Variety
A variety shall be deemed to be stable if after the repeated propagation or at the end of each propagation cycle (if a special propagation cycle is utilised) the characteristic features of the variety do not substantially change.
Section 8
Breeder
(1) In accordance with this Law the following persons are breeders:
1) a natural person who has derived or isolated the relevant variety;
2) an employer or a commissioning party who has entered into a contract with a person referred to in Clause 1 of this Section regarding the derivement or isolation of the relevant variety;
3) a successor to the rights of persons referred to in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Section.
(2) If a variety has been derived as a result of the joint activities of several breeders, they shall have joint breeder’s right which have been specified by a written agreement. If an agreement has not been entered into, each of them is entitled to exercise breeder’s right at his or her own discretion, with the exception of the granting of a licence, as well as of transferring the breeder’s right to another person. The joint owners of the breeder’s right shall carry out such activities only by mutual agreement or in accordance with a court adjudication.
Section 9
Owner of Breeder’s Right
A person referred to in Section 8 of this Law who has acquired the breeder’s right in accordance with the procedures specified in this Law is an owner of breeder’s right.
Section 10
Authorised Representative
The State Plant Protection Service shall register an
authorised representative based on the authorisation
of a breeder.
[17 November 2005]
Section 11
Personal Rights of a Breeder
(1) A breeder (a natural person), irrespective of who is the owner of breeder’s right, has personal rights, which shall not be transferred to other persons and inherited. These are rights:
1) to be mentioned in materials and publications regarding the relevant variety, as well as the certificate regarding the granting of a breeder’s right;
2) to submit a proposal for the denomination of a variety; and
3) to apply for an equitable remuneration for the utilisation of a variety in cases provided for in a contract entered into with an employer.
(2) The rights specified in Paragraph one of this Section in case of violation thereof may be protected in a court in accordance with the same procedures by which copyright is protected. [17 November 2005]
Section 12
Tasks of the National Council Plant
Variety Council and the State Plant
Protection Service in the Field of
Protection of Varieties
1) accept and examine applications and other documents related thereto;
2) perform expert-examinations of the conditions for granting the breeder’s right;
3) take a decision regarding the recognition of results of a variety distinctness, uniformity and stability examination (hereinafter – variety examination);
4) organise, perform or control variety examination;
5) take a decision regarding the granting, loss of effect and cancellation of the breeder’s right;
6) issue certificates on granting the breeder’s right;
7) register licences for the transfer of the breeder’s right;
8) maintain the Latvian State Register of Protected Plant Varieties;
9) in conformity with its competence co-operate with international organisations;
10) perform other functions provided for in this Law;
11) perform all activities in conformity with European Union legislation regarding plant variety protection. [17 November 2005]
Section 13
The Latvian State Register of
Protected Plant Varieties
1) the registration number and date of the application;
2) the name and address of the breeder;
3) if it is an authorised representative – the name and address of the authorised representative, the date, number and term of validity of the authorisation;
4) the proposed denomination of a variety or temporary designation;
5) the description of the variety technical form registration number and date or the official description of the variety registration number and date that is prepared after the performance of a variety examination (hereinafter – description of the variety);
6) the variety examination report registration number and date;
7) the date of publication of the registered application;
8) the date of publication of the applied for and registered variety denomination;
9) the priority date; and
10) information regarding the course of the examination of the application.
(3) The following information regarding protected varieties shall be included in the Register:
1) the number by which the variety has been included in the Register;
2) the name and address of the owner of breeder’s right, breeder, and authorised representative;
3) the denomination of the variety;
4) the description of the variety;
5) a reference to the components of the variety if they are utilised for the propagation of the variety;'
6) the date of the granting of the breeder’s right, the time period for which the breeder’s right has been granted, loss of effect of the breeder’s rights and cancellation thereof;
7) the information regarding compulsory licences, registered licences and registered licence contracts issued;
8) information regarding the change of the name of the owner of a licence; and
9) information regarding the payment of the State fee for protection of breeder’s rights.'
(4) The applicant and the owner of breeder’s rights shall be liable for the provision of information to be included into the Register, the veracity, amendment and alteration thereof. [17 November 2005]
Chapter II
Application for Granting the Breeder’s Right and
Examination Thereof
Section 14
Application for Granting the Breeder’s Right
1) a description of the variety;
2) [17 November 2005]
3) a copy of a payment document of the payment made for the examination of the application;
4) an authorisation if the applicant is not the breeder;
5) the documents referred to in Section 15 of this Law if a convention priority has been requested; and
6) a copy of the first certificate for granting the breeder’s right if the breeder’s right is protected in other states.
(3) An application shall be registered if a description of the variety technical form has been submitted and the following information has been provided in the application form and a copy of the payment document regarding the examination of the application:
1) the name and address of the applicant;
2) the name and address of the breeder if the applicant is not the breeder;
3) the submitted denomination of the variety;
4) the State in which the application has been registered and the registration date if a convention priority is requested; and
5) the person referred to in Section 8, Paragraph two, Clause 1 of this Law if the breeder is the person referred to in Section 8, Paragraph two, Clause 2 of this Law.
Section 15
Convention Priority
1) examine the right of the applicant to submit an application and the conformity of the variety to the provisions of Section 4 of this Law;
2) inform the applicant in writing regarding the necessity to supplement the registered application with the documents referred to in Section 14, Paragraph two of this Law and to submit a translation into the Latvian language of the documents
Latviaappended, as well as regarding the procedures for the examination of the variety.
Plant Varieties Protection Law of 2005 description and the variety examination report from the official institution performing the variety examination and shall request an original sample of the variety seed therefrom. [17 November 2005]
Section 19 Decision regarding Granting of the Breeder’s Right
1) if a fully completed application form has bee submitted and the documents referred to in Section 14, Paragraph two of this Law have been appended; and
2) in accordance with the provisions specified in Sections 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of this Law.
Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) in relation to the international nomenclature of cultivated plants. The denomination of a variety may consist of words, combinations of letters and figures, as well as of figures if such is the recognised practice in the designation of denominations. The denomination shall be such as the variety may be recognised by it and such as the denomination may be clearly distinguished from the denominations of varieties of the same or related plant species and the registered firm names, as well as it shall comply with linguistic standards.
(3) The State Plant Protection Service shall examine the conformity of the denomination applied for to the provisions of Paragraphs one and two of this Section. If an applied for denomination:
1) conforms, it shall be published. Interested persons have the right to submit objections to the State Plant Protection Service regarding the applied for denomination of a variety within a time period of three months from the day of publication thereof. The State Plant Protection Service shall inform the applicant regarding the objections received and if they are justified, shall act in accordance with Clause 2 of this Paragraph. The State Plant Protection Service shall inform regarding a decision, which is taken in relation to the objections, to the submitter of the objection and member states of UPOV and the European Union; or
2) does not conform, the applicant, within a time period of a month, shall submit a proposal regarding a new denomination of the variety. If the applicant does not submit a proposal, the application shall be rejected and the applicant informed in writing thereof.
1) the denomination has been registered without complying with the provisions of Paragraphs one and two of this Section;'
2) a written request of the owner of the breeder’s right has been received; and
3) a relevant decision of a higher institution or an adjudication of a court has been received.
1) registered, recalled and rejected applications;'
2) denominations of varieties proposed and changes of denominations of protected varieties;
3) granting, loss of effect or cancellation of the breeder’s right;
4) change of the breeder, owner of breeder’s right or authorised representative; and
5) other notices associated with this Law.
(2) The State Plant Protection Service shall publish the information referred to in Paragraph one of this Section also in the periodical publication “Latvijas Augu Skirnu Biletens" [Latvian Plant Variety Bulletin], which shall be sent to all member states of UPOV and the European Union. [17 November 2005]
Section 22
State Fee
An owner of breeder’s right or an authorised representative shall pay a State fee for the protection of the breeder’s right in accordance with the procedures and in the amount specified by the Cabinet and shall submit a payment certification document to the State Plant Protection Service. [17 November 2005]
Chapter III
Breeder’s right
Section 23
Scope of Application of the Breeder’s Right
(1) No other person shall turn a variety into a source of income without a permit (licence contract) from an owner of the breeder’s right. In compliance with the provisions of Section 24 of this Law a permit from the owner of the breeder’s rights shall be necessary for the performance of the following activities related to the propagating material of a variety:
1) production and propagation;
2) preparation in conformity with sowing requirements in order to propagate the variety;
3) offer for sale;
4) sale or other type of marketing;
5) exportation and importation; and
6) storage for the purposes referred to in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
1) which is essentially derived from the protected variety if this protected variety is not itself essentially derived in such manner;
2) which, in compliance with the provisions of Section 5 of this Law, insufficiently differs from the protected variety; and
3) in the production of which the protected variety must be repeatedly utilised.
(4) The variety referred to in Paragraph three, Clause 1 of this Section shall be deemed to be essentially derived from another (initial) variety, if it:
1) is predominantly derived from the initial variety or from a variety that is itself predominantly derived from the initial variety, while retaining the essential characteristics the origin of which has been determined by the genotype or combination of genotypes of the initial variety;
2) is clearly distinguishable from the initial variety; and
3) conforms to the essential characteristics of the initial variety the origin of which has been determined by the genotype or combination of genotypes of the initial variety, except for the differences that have arisen during the process of derivation.
Latviato in Paragraph one of this Section for the propagation of harvested products in their own holdings without paying a reimbursement to the owners of breeder’s rights.
Section 25
Exceptions of the Breeder’s right
Breeder’s right shall not apply to operations:
1) which have been performed privately and for noncommercial purposes;
2) which have been carried out for experimental purposes;
3) the objective of which is to derive new varieties, except in cases where the provisions of Section 23, Paragraph three of this Law are applied in respect of the operations with varieties referred to in Section 23, Paragraphs one and two of this Law; and
4) with the propagating material of the protected variety, the harvested product (including entire plant and parts of the plant) and any material acquired from the harvested product or varieties referred to in Section 23, Paragraph three of this Law if the breeder has sold or otherwise put into circulation (or if such has taken place with his or her consent) such material or varieties, unless any of the following operations have been performed:
a) further propagation of the protected variety, or
b) exportation of the propagating material of the protected variety, harvested product (including entire plant and parts of the plant) and any material acquired
Plant Varieties Protection Law of 2005 from the harvested product, which would provide an opportunity to propagate the variety in a state which does not protect varieties of the genera and species to which the referred to variety belongs, except in cases where such material to be exported is intended for final consumption.
Section 26
Term of Validity of the Breeder’s Right
1) fully – to a successor to the breeder’s right;
2) in part – with an authorisation or a licence contract in accordance with the provisions of Section 28 of this Law.
(2) A licence (also compulsory licence) contract and the change of the owner of the licence shall be registered in the State Plant Protection Service by making an entry in the Register. An unregistered licence contract shall not be valid. If the operation of a licence is terminated, the relevant entry shall be made in the Register.
Section 29
Non-exclusive Licence
In issuing a non-exclusive licence, that is, in granting the right to utilise a variety to a owner of a licence (licensee), an issuer of a license (licenser) shall retain the right to grant a licence for the same variety to third parties. The licensee is not entitled to transfer his or her rights to another person unless such agreement is provided for in the licence.
Section 30
Exclusive License
Upon receiving an exclusive licence, the licensee shall acquire exclusive rights to utilise a variety in accordance with the provisions provided for in a licence contract. The licensor shall retain the right to utilise the variety to the extent provided for in the agreement.
Section 31
Free Right of Use
Section 32
Compulsory Licence
1) the acquisition of an ordinary licence from the owner of the patent has not been successful; and
2) he or she can prove that the protected variety constitutes significant technical progress of considerable economic importance compared with the invention claimed in the patent.
(3) If the owner of the patent utilises a variety protected with a breeder’s right, the owner of the breeder’s right has the right to apply for a cross-licence and remuneration. [17 November 2005]
Latvia
Section 33
Certification or Conformity Assessment of
Propagating Material
The certification or conformity assessment of the propagating material of varieties for which the breeder’s right has been granted in Latvia or they are protected by European Union breeder’s rights shall be carried out if the grower or the processor of the propagating material is an owner of breeder’s right or he or she has a licence contract registered with the State Plant Protection Service. [17 November 2005]
Section 34
Examination of Variety During Protection
Period Thereof
Section 35
Provision of Information regarding Utilisation
of a Protected Variety
Upon a request of the owner of breeder’s right, agricultural production producers, processors and providers of other services, as well as the State Plant Protection Service shall provide him or her with the necessary information regarding the production, propagation, processing and sale of the propagating material of protected varieties.
Chapter IV
Loss of Effect and Cancellation of Breeder’s right
Section 36
Loss of Effect of Breeder’s right
(1) Breeder’s right shall loose effect if at least one of the following circumstances arise:
1) the owner of breeder’s right has not paid the State fee in accordance with Section 22 of this Law.
Plant Varieties Protection Law of 2005
2) the owner of breeder’s right does not provide the propagating material, documentation or other materials that are necessary for the examination of maintenance of a variety;
3) provisions of Sections 6 or 7 of this Law are no longer complied with;
4) the owner of breeder’s right himself or herself notifies in writing that he or she waives the breeder’s right; and
5) the State Plant Protection Service has recognised the denomination of a variety as unsuitable and the owner of breeder’s right within a time period of three months has not proposed a new denomination conforming to the provisions of Section 20 of this Law.
(2) If there is a legal basis to construe that the breeder’s right has lost effect, the State Plant Protection Service prior to taking the decision shall notify the owner of breeder’s right thereof by specifying the reason of such an action, as well as by providing a time period for the rectification of the circumstances referred to in Paragraph one of this Section.
Section 37
Cancellation of Breeder’s right
The breeder’s right shall be cancelled in any of the following cases:
1) in taking a decision on the granting of the breeder’s right the provisions of Sections 4 or 5 of this Law have not been complied with;
2) the granting of the breeder’s right has been mainly based on the information and documents provided by a breeder, but in taking a decision on granting the breeder’s right the provisions of Sections 6 or 7 of this Law have not been complied with; or
3) the breeder’s right has been granted to a person who has no legal rights thereto.
Chapter V
Liability for Infringement of Breeder’s right
Section 38
Compensation for Losses Caused Due to
Infringement of Breeder’s right
A person who has infringed the breeder’s right shall compensate, for the utilisation of a variety, the losses to the owner of breeder’s right, which losses have resulted due to non-compliance with this Law.
Section 39
Compensation for Losses Caused in Relation to the
Temporary Protection of a Variety
If a third party utilises a propagating material of a variety, provisions of this Law in relation to the infringement of the breeder’s right shall be applied from the day of publication of the application. In such case, only such losses shall be compensated as relate to the remuneration for the utilisation of a variety, unless the owner of the breeder’s right has warned the relevant persons of the registration of the application prior to its publication. The losses shall be compensated from the day of receipt of the warning, but not earlier than from the day of registration of the application in the State Plant Protection Service.
Section 40
Liability for Infringement of Breeder’s right
Persons who have infringed the breeder’s right shall be held liable in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law.
Transitional Provisions [17 November 2005]
1) by 1 January 2006 issue the regulations referred to in Section 18, Paragraph one of this Law;
2) by 1 June 2006 issue the regulations referred to in Section 14, Paragraph one of this Law; and
3) by 1 December 2007 issue the regulations referred to in Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law. [17 November 2005] 3. The provisions of Section 33 of this Law in relation to the conformity assessment of propagation materials shall come into force on 1 April 2006.
The legal norms arising from Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions has been included in this Law [17 November 2005]
This Law has been adopted by the Saeima on 2 May 2002.
Disclaimer: The English language text below is provided by the Translation and Terminology Centre for information only; it confers no rights and imposes no obligations separate from those conferred or imposed by the legislation formally adopted and published. Only the latter is authentic. The original Latvian text uses masculine pronouns in the singular. The Translation and Terminology Centre uses the principle of gender-neutral language in its English translations. In addition, gender-specific Latvian nouns have been translated as gender-neutral terms, e.g. chairperson.