Plant Breeder's Rights

Australian PBR Process

There are effectively six (6) components to the Australian Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR) process to seek and maintain Intellectual Property (IP) protection of your plant variety within Australia:

  • Step 1: Complete and submit the Part 1 application to Plant Breeder’s Rights Office (PBRO) to obtain provisional protection of your candidate (new) variety.
  • Step 2: To establish and conduct the PBR field trial to measure for Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) against Varieties of Common Knowledge (VCK’s) e.g. commercial varieties. A meeting is also to be held with the PBR Examiner who is to inspect the trial.
  • Step 3: To compete all other necessary documentation to meet PBR requirements. This includes but not limited to the Part 2 detailed application, analysing the statistical data and entering information into IP Australia’s Interactive Variety Descriptor System (IVDS).
  • Step 4: To provide all information, including comparator digital photos for inclusion within the Plant Varieties Journal (PVJ) which is published quarterly. A 6-month objection and comment period is then run once the online journal is published. After this time, if there are no formal objections, PBR is then granted.
  • Step 5: Provide IP Australia fees, which includes an examination fee (one off payment) and nominal annual PBR fee to maintain PBR.
  • Step 6: To house and maintain your variety as part of your Genetic Resource Centre (GRC) requirements. This can be done in Australia’s Warm-Season Turf GRC.

Completed PBR Trials

The following table contains a list of warm-season turf varieties and other plant species ASTC’s Qualified Person (QP) has trialed and successfully registered for Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR) in Australia since 2002.

A QP is an expert in a particular plant group, accredited by the Plant Breeder’s Rights Office at IP Australia to certify applications for PBR in Australia. QP’s can carry out all the necessary procedures, as listed above, to help breeder’s or organisations to provide evidence that their candidate variety is DUS. Please contact us today to find out more.

Common Name Scientific Name Variety Name Total
Buffalograss Stenotaphrum secundatum TF01 (Limerick), Sir James and TBLL (Yates New Frontier) 3
Green couch Cynodon dactylon Hatfield, Grand Prix, JT1 (Hardy Turf), TL1 (Mountain Green), Gully Gold, Winter Gem, Oz-E-Green (OZ TUFF), UQ-490, UQ-539 (Sciencia) and UQ-545 10
Hybrid green couch C. dactylon x transvaalensis OKC 1131 (Tahoma 31), AGRD (AgriDark), P18 (MiniVerde), TifSport, MS-Supreme and TL2 (Novotek) 6
Leucaena Leucaena pallida x L. leucocephala ssp BL-12 1
Marine couch Sporobolus virginicus QLD-Coast 1
Rhodes grass Chloris gayana KP4 1
Seashore paspalum Paspalum vaginatum SDX-1 (SeaDwarf), SI98 (Sea Isle Supreme), SeaIsle 1, Sea Isle 2000 and TFWA02 (Velvetene). 5
Wheat Triticum aestivum UQ01512, UQ01520, UQ01527 3
Zoysia Zoysia spp. Palisades, A-1 (Shadetuff), BA-305, BA-189 4