New plant varieties and new animal breeds resulting from human creativity are recognized as selective breeding achievements of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Patentability criteria of selective breeding achievement:

Plant varieties and animal breeds are deemed novel if at the date of filing an application for a patent their seeds or any other planting material, or pedigree material of such a selective breeding achievement were not released in commerce and were not transferred to other parties by its author or his legal successors to use variety or breed within the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan - one year prior to the date of application; any other country - four years prior to the date of application in respect of annual crops and six years prior to the date of application filed in respect of perennial crops.

Plant varieties and animal breeds are distinctive if they obviously differ from any other plant variety or animal breed, which fall within the prior art at the moment of filing an application.

Plant varieties or animal breeds are deemed homogeneous if plants of such variety or breed are homogeneous by their selected features subject to the specifics of their reproduction.

A variety or a breed is deemed to be stable if its essential features remain unchanged after each cycle of reproduction, and in case of a special reproduction cycle - at the end of each reproduction cycle.

The scope of legal protection covered by a patent for selective breeding achievements is determined by features included in description of plant variety and animal breed.

Term of validity

Selective breeding achievement patent is valid for 25 years, for animal breeds patent is valid for 30 years, for grape variety, decorative tree crops, fruit crops and forest plantation crops including their parent stocks the term is 35 years from the date of filing application with the expert organization. Upon patent owner’s application the patent validity term can be extended for not more than ten years.

Objects of selective breeding achievements

Plant varieties (clone, line, first generation hybrid and population) and animal breeds (type, cross, line).

Documents for filing an application:

• application for granting of a title document to a selective breeding achievement;
• questionnaire of a selective breeding achievement (with a table of described features by level and index of manifestation);
• power of attorney, if correspondence and paperwork are made by a representative;
• a document evidencing payment of fee for filing of an application.

Patenting procedure

The application for the grant of a patent for a selection breeding achievement is filed by the applicant with the National Institute of Intellectual Property (NIIP). Upon expiry of two months since the application date NIIP shall conduct a preliminary examination of an application within two months.

Upon positive result of preliminary examination, a decision on further review of an application is issued. A copy of patent application is forwarded to the State Commission for Testing of Crops of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan or the State Commission for Testing of Breeds (hereinafter - the State Commission).

The State Commission verifies name of selective breeding achievement and the novelty in the appropriate databases. Tests of a variety or breed for distinctness, homogeneity and stability are carried out by the State Commissions according to approved methods in due terms.

If the results of tests and verifications conducted by the relevant Commission establish that the declared variety or breed meet patentability criteria, then Commission prepares description of a variety or breed with a conclusion on the grant of a patent and a conclusion on patentability of a variety or breed and forwards these conclusions to NIIP. On the basis of decision to grant a patent and confirmation of payment, a selection breeding achievement is registered with the State Register of Selection Achievements.

Exclusive right

The patent owner is exclusively entitled to use the selective breeding achievement. Other individuals and entities may not use selective breeding achievement without the patent owner’s permission. The right of patent possession and the rights arising from the patent may be assigned by the patent owner to other individuals or entities in full or in part (disposal of the right).

We offer following services in the field of protection of selection breeding achievements

• All types of searches in the State Registries of selective breeding achievements;
• Legal advice in the field of protection of rights to selective breeding achievements;
• Dispute resolution.

In this section information concerning the section Selective breeding achievements is published.

• How to obtain patent in Kazakhstan;
• Fundamentals of Intellectual Property Protection in Kazakhstan
• Protection of Plant Varieties of Foreign Breeding
• Intellectual Property in “KAZAKHSTAN +”
• Analysis of amendments to intellectual property legislation

Yuri Bolotov

Managing Partner

Questions relating to the section Patents – Selective Breeding Achievements to e-mail address: info@bolotovIP.com marked for Yuri Bolotov.