Community Plant Variety Office
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| Formation | 1994 (established) |
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| Location | |
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President
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Martin Ekvad |
| Website | cpvo.europa.eu |
The Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) is an agency of the European Union, located in Angers, France. It was established in 1994. Its task is to administer a system of plant variety rights, also known as plant breeders' rights, a form of intellectual property right relating to plants.
The CPVO manages the largest system of plant variety rights in the World. Since the creation of the CPVO in 1995 the office has received over 53,000 applications, with over 41,000 titles currently in force.
Plant variety rights allow plant breeders to protect new varieties (or types of plants).
Based in Angers, France the CPVO was created by the Council Regulation 2100/94 and has been operational since the 27 April 1995.
The CPVO is entirely self-financed. It neither takes from nor contributes to the EU budget. The CPVO’s budget is principally derived from PVR application fees paid by breeders who wish to protect their creations.
The CPVO was created to encourage the creation of new plant varieties in the European Union, through the provision of better intellectual property protection for plant breeders.
The PVR protection provided by the CPVO offers breeders the potential to have a return on their investment. PVR also incentivizes investment in the creation of new, more productive varieties – something which is of crucial importance in securing food security for the growing World population.
The PVR offered by the CPVO is valid across the EU for a period of 25 to 30 years.
A plant variety right, gives the holder of this right an exclusive right to market the protected variety in the European Union.
The Breeders’ Exemption ensures that anyone is allowed to use protected (PVR) varieties as a basis for the creation of new varieties.
The Breeders’ Exemption exists to ensure that PVR and the need to reward breeders for their work is balanced with the need for new & better varieties to reach & benefit the consumer as quickly as possible.
It also ensures the continued production of new varieties as breeders need access to as much genetic resources as possible, including protected varieties, in order to create new varieties.
One of the primary reasons for the creation of the CPVO was to streamline PVR applications. Previously, applicants who wished to secure EU wide protection were required to apply separately to each EU Member State, for such protection. The CPVO system of PVR protection means that only one application need be made (directly to the CPVO) in order to attain EU wide protection.
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