Postepy nauk rolniczych - Instytucja Naukowa - Polska Akademia ...

120 T. Zimny, S. SowaLegal protection of plant varieties in the EuropeanUnion and the USA – sui generis systemKeywords: plant varieties, legal regulations, intellectual property, plantvariety protectionSummaryGenerally, one can distinguish two major systems of innovations’protection in thefield of plant breeding – the patent system and the so called sui generis system. The latterwas introduced on an international scale by the UPOV convention. The conventionallows breeders to obtain an exclusive right to their newly created variety, provided, itmeets the criteria of novelty, distinctness, uniformity and stability. Using protected varietymaterial in farming is usually connected with an obligation to pay royalties to thebreeder. Despite a worldwide process of harmonization, the regulations existing invarious countries still differ in some significant respects. This article describes the suigeneris systems in the USA and EU, points out to differences and also provides generalinformation on some practical aspects of plant variety protection in Poland.