中华人民共和国植物新品种保护条例 REGULATIONS OF THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON THE PROTECTION OF NEW VARIETIES OF

ritten in Chinese.

　　Article 22 The date on which the examining and approving authorities receive the application documents shall be the date of filing. If the application is sent by mail， the date of mailing indicated by the postmark shall be the date of filing.

　　Article 23 Where， within 12 months from the date on which any applicant has first filed in a foreign country an application for a variety right， the said applicant files an application for a variety right in China for the same new variety， he or it may， in accordance with any agreement concluded between the said foreign country and the People's of Republic of China， or in accordance with any international treaty to which both countries are party， or on basis of the principle of mutual recognition of the right of priority， enjoy a right of priority.

　　Any applicant who claims the right of priority shall make a written statement when the application is filed， and submit， within 3 months， a copy of the variety right application that was first filed， as confirmed by the original receiving authority； if the applicant fails to make the written statement or fails to submit a copy of the application according to the provisions of these Regulations， the claim to the right of priority shall be deemed not to have been made.

　　Article 24 Where the variety right application conforms to Article 21 of these Regulations， the examining and approving authorities shall accept it， establish the date of filing， assign a filing number and serve a notice on the applicant within 1 month from the receipt of the application to pay an application fee.

　　Where the variety right application dose not， or after amendment still does not， conform to Article 21 of the Regulations， the examining and approving authorities shall not accept it and shall notify the applicant accordingly.

　　Article 25 An applicant may amend or withdraw his or its variety right application at any time before the variety right is granted.

　　Article 26 Any variety right application， filed by a Chinese entity or person with a foreign county for a new variety bed in

China， shall be registered before the examining and approving authorities.

　　Chapter V EXAMINATION AND APPROVAL OF VARIETY RIGHTS

　　Article 27 Upon payment of the application fee， the examining and approving authorities shall carry out a preliminary examination on the variety right application of the following items：

　　（a） whether it is under the plant genera or species included in the list of protected plant genera or species；

　　（b） whether it conforms to the provisions of Article 20 of these Regulations；

　　（c） whether it conforms to the provisions on novelty；

　　（d） whether the denomination of the new variety is adequate.

　　Article 28 The examining and approving authorities shall complete the preliminary examination within 6 months from the date that the variety right application is accepted. Where the variety right application is found acceptable on preliminary examination， the examination and approving authorities shall have it announced and serve a notice on the applicant to pay the examination fee within 3 months.

　　where the variety tight application is found unacceptable on preliminary examination， the examining and approving authorities shall invite the applicant to state his observations or make amendments； where an applicant fails to respond within the time limit or the application is still unacceptable after amendment， the application shall be refused.

　　Article 29 After the applicant has paid the prescribed examination fee， the examining and approving authorities shall carry out a substantive examination on the distinctness， uniformity and stability of the variety right application.

　　Where the applicant has not paid the prescribed examination fee， the variety rights application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.

　　Article 30 The examining and approving authorities shall conduct the substantive examination the basis of application documents and other relevant written information. Where they deem it necessity， the examining and approving authorities may entrust a designated testing institution with undertaking tests or may inspect the results of breeding or other trials that have already been carried out.

　　For the purposes of examination， the applicant shall， at the request of the examining and approving authorities， furnish necessary information and the propagating material of the variety in question.

　　Article 31 Where the variety right application is found to be in conformity with the provisions of these Regulations， the examining and approving authorities shall make a decision to grant the variety right， issue the variety right title， and have it registered and announced.

　　Where， after substantive examination， the variety right application is found not to be in conformity with the provisions of these Regulations， the examining and approving authorities shall refuse the application and notify the applicant accordingly.

　　Article 32 The examining and approving authorities shall setup Variety Right Re-examination Boards.

　　Where any applicant is not satisfied with the decision of the examining and approving authorities refusing the variety right application， that applicant may， within 3 months from the date of receiving the notification， request the Variety Right Re-examination Board to carry out a re-examination. The Variety Right Re-examination Board shall， within 6 months from the date of receiving the request for re-examination， make a decision and notify the applicant accordingly.

　　Where any applicant is not satisfied with the decision of the Variety Right Re-examination Board， that applicant may， within 15 days from the date of receiving the notification， institute legal proceedings in the People's Court.

　　Article 33 After the variety right has been granted， any entity which or person who， during the period beginning from the date on which an acceptable appl

ication is announced on preliminary examination and ending on the date of grant of variety rights， had produced or sold the propagating material of the variety in question for commercial purposes without his authorization of the variety right owner， the variety right owner is entitled to claim compensation.

　　Chapter VI TERM， TERMINATION AND NULLITY OF VARIETY RIGHTS

　　Article 34 The term of protection of a variety right， counted from the date of grant thereof， shall be 20 years for vines， forest trees， fruit trees and ornamental plants and 15 years for other plants.

　　Article 35 The variety right owner shall pay an annual fee from the year in which the variety right is granted， and shall furnish propagating material of the protected variety for the purposes of testing as required by the examining and approving authorities.

　　Article 36 The variety right shall be terminated prior to its expiration in any of the following cases：

　　（a） where the variety right owner makes a written statement renouncing his or its variety right；

　　（b） where the variety right owner has not paid the annual fee as prescribed；

　　（c） where the variety right owner has not furnished， in the manner required by the examining and approving authorities， such propagating material of the protected variety necessary for testing；

　　（d） where， on testing， the protected variety no longer conforms to the features and characteristics that existed at the time of the grant of the variety right.

　　The termination of the variety right shall be registered and announced by the examining and approving authorities.

　　Article 37 From the date on which the examining and approving authorities announce the grant of any variety right， the Variety Right Re-examination Board may， ex officio or on the basis of a written request made by any entity or person， declare the variety right null and void， when the variety is not in conformity with the provisions of Articles 14， 15， 16 and 17 of these Regulations； or change the denomination of any variety that is not in conformity with the provisions of Article 18 of these Regulations. The decision of nullity of the variety right and the decision to change the denomination shall be registered and announced by the examining and approving authorities， and shall be notified to the parties concerned.

　　Where any party is not satisfied with the decision of the Variety Right Re-examination Board， he or it may， within 3 months from the date of receiving such notification ， institute legal proceedings in the People's Court.

　　Article 38 Any variety right that has been declared null and void shall be deemed non-existent from the outset.

　　The decision of nullity of a variety right shall have no retroactive effect on any judgment or order on variety right infringement pronounced and enforced by the People's Court， or on any decision on variety right infringement made and enforced by the administrative departments of agriculture and forestry of the People' Governments above provincial level， or on any executed license contract for exploitation of a new variety or any executed contract of assignment of a variety right. However， any damage caused to any other person in bad faith on the part of the variety right owner shall be equitably compensated.

　　If， pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph， no repayment of the fees for the exploitation of the new variety or of the price for the assignment of the variety right， is made by the variety right owner or the assignor of the variety right to the licensee or the assignee， which is obviously con

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