– Intellectual Property Rights Law No. 82 of June 2, 2002, and Implementing Regulations of August 17, 2003, amended by Law No. 26 of June 22, 2015.

Membership in International Conventions

– International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), 1991 Act, since December 1, 2019.

Applicant: any natural person or legal entity belonging to, domiciled or active in a country or an entity that is a member of the World Trade Organization or the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) or that applies reciprocity to Egypt.

Foreigners: must appoint a local agent. 

Filing Office: the Plant Variety Protection Office.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Legalized power of attorney;
2. Certificate of DUS test or VCU test (Value for Cultivation and Use), issued from the applicant’s country (if any);
3. A sample of the plant variety;
4. The technical specifications of the genera/species.

Conditions of protection: new plant varieties are registrable if they are new, distinct, uniform, stable and subject of a denomination.

Novelty: the plant variety is not novel if the vegetation propagation of the variety has been sold or otherwise transmitted to third parties by the breeder or with his consent, for more than one year in Egypt or more than four years (more than six years in the case of trees and vines) abroad, before the corresponding application in Egypt.

Other requirements: clearly distinctive from other known varieties, sufficiently homogeneous and stable. 

Examination: the Office conducts the check and test processes, as well as other necessary work of expertise or takes into account the results of agricultural tests or any other previously carried out tests.

Beginning of protection: date of granting.

Duration: twenty-five years for trees and vines and twenty years for other crops. 

Annuities: an annual fee is payable for the protection period, which shall increase gradually as of the beginning of the second year.

Publication: in the monthly journal issued by the Plant Variety Protection Office.

Appeal: any concerned party is entitled to appeal against the decision of granting the breeder’s right certificate or rejection thereof, within thirty days as of the date of publication or notice, as the case may be. 

Delivery of certificate: the certificate of the breeder’s right is issued after payment of the prescribed fee.

Scope of protection: a certificate of plant variety confers to its owner the right to produce or reproduce, to store, import or export, to sell or to offer for sale all or part of the plant, and all elements for reproduction of the variety.

Compulsory licenses: may be granted for public interest. In such case, the breeder shall be entitled to a fair compensation. 

Nullification: is possible if the conditions of granting the breeder’s right were not in conformity with the Law. The decision can be appealed within thirty days as of the notification date.