Plant Breeder's Rights Act (No. 32 of 1993).

The present Act governs the legal framework for protecting plant varieties and breeders' rights in Norway. It ensures that plant breeders can secure exclusive rights to new plant varieties they develop, providing them with legal protection and incentivizing innovation in plant breeding. The Act consist of 30 sections divided into 7 Chapters: General provisions (I); Application for a plant breeder's right and handling of applications (II); Duration of a plant breeder's right, yearly fees (III); Termination of a plant breeder's right and related matters (IV); Use, modification and cancellation of a variety name (V); Legal protection (VI); Miscellaneous provisions (VII).
Section 1 outlines the criteria for granting a plant breeder's right to a specific person. Section 2 provides the quality requirements of the plant variety and rules of priority. Section 3 outlines the contents of a plant breeder's right and specifies uses for which the consent of the owner of the variety is not required. Section 4 requires applications for a plant breeder's right to be made in writing to the Plant Varieties Board. Section 5 contains rules relating to registered names of plant varieties. Section 13 establishes that a plant breeder's right can be maintained until the end of the twentieth calendar year after the year in which the plant breeder's right was granted. For trees and vines, the plant breeder's right can be maintained for twenty-five years. Section 26 mandates the Plant Variety Board to maintain a Plant Variety Register, which shall be public and open for anyone to request certified copies.