European Union
April 6, 2020
On 6 April 2020 the President of the Community Plant Variety Office has taken a new decision concerning the extension of time limits for proceedings before the CPVO that fall in the period 17 March – 3 May included.
The new decision amends and replaces the previous decision published on 24 March, with the view to include deadlines for the payment of examination fees. Please note that we have removed the decision taken on 24 March, as well as the previous explanatory note to applicants, from the CPVO website given that the decision and explanatory note of 6 April take precedence.
Examination fees were not part of the decision on 24 March 2020 since the financial risk to include such fees were hard to assess on short notice. The CPVO has now made an assessment and has concluded that there is indeed a financial risk involved for the CPVO since the CPVO must pay the Examination Office for certain technical examination even if the application in the end is abandoned. The CPVO is however prepared to take such a risk for a limited period of time.
The Decision should contribute for parties to proceedings who need to make the necessary practical arrangements such as taking bridging loans and adapting their working methods in line with measures adopted by health authorities across the European Union.
The extensions apply in specific to:
- Payment of the application fee
- Payment of fees relating to technical examinations
- Payment of the annual fee
- Payment of fees for processing specific requests and fees laid down by the President
- Payment of Appeal fees
- Right of Priority
- Filing of a Notice of Appeal and of the Statement of Grounds
The extensions do not apply to:
- Time limits regarding the starting of technical examinations
- Submission of plant material for the conduct of technical examinations by Examination Offices
- Compliance with the novelty requirement
- Proceedings before other Authorities
- Time limits related to other subjects.
The Decision of the CPVO President taking effect as of 6 April 2020 as well as an Explanatory note detailing the practical aspects of the Decision can be downloaded below. These documents are available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch (please note that translation into some of thse langauges will only be available in the coming hours).
The Office will continue using the time until 4 May 2020 to assess the evolution of the COVID-19 crisis and make all appropriate consultations and adjustments.
Download
EN(250.01 KB)
Decision of the President of the CPVO concerning the extension of time limits: 6 April 2020
EN(389.13 KB)
Explanatory Note on the extension of time limits due to COVID-19: 6 April 2020
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