PART IIICOMPULSORY PLANT VARIETY LICENCES

Community plant variety rights: cross licences of patents15

1

Where the Community Plant Variety Office has granted—

a

on the grounds specified in Article 12(3) of Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions15, and

b

under Article 29 of Council Regulation,

a compulsory exploitation right in respect of a Community plant variety right to a proprietor of a biotechnological invention protected by a patent, who could not otherwise exploit in the UK the biotechnological invention protected by the patent without infringing a Community plant variety right, the holder of the Community plant variety right concerned may, in accordance with rules, apply to the Comptroller General of Patents for a cross licence of the biotechnological invention protected by the patent and on such application shall pay the prescribed fee.

2

On receipt of an application under paragraph (1) and payment of the prescribed fee, the Comptroller General shall consider and process the application in accordance with rules.

3

Where the holder of the Community plant variety right concerned has paid the prescribed fee and demonstrates in his application to the satisfaction of the Comptroller General of Patents that—

a

he has a Community plant variety right, and

b

the Community Plant Variety Office has granted, under Article 29 of Council Regulation, a compulsory exploitation right in respect of it which allows a proprietor of a patent for a biotechnological invention to exploit in the UK the biotechnological invention protected by the patent,

the Comptroller General of Patents shall order the grant of a cross licence on reasonable terms to the holder of the Community plant variety right concerned (or, where the holder is a government department, to any person specified in the application) to use in the UK the biotechnological invention protected by the patent.