The Plant Variety Rights Act 2022 was passed by Parliament in November last year. Its purposes are:

      (a)  to revise and consolidate the law on plant variety rights in accordance with NZ’s                            international obligations,

      (b)  to protect kaitiaki relationships with taonga species and mātauranga Māori, and

      (c)  to promote innovation and economic growth in NZ by providing incentives to develop                   and use new plant varieties while balancing the interests of breeders, growers                               and others.

Section 7 of the Act defines plants as including fungi and algae but not bacteria, and clarifies what a plant variety is.

Part 5 of the Act sets out additional procedures that recognise and protect kaitiaki relationships with

• indigenous plant species
• non-indigenous plant species of significance (listed in Schedule 2 of the Regulations)

The Plant Variety Rights Regulations 2022 were gazetted in December and implement the provisions of the new Act.

Commentary in the Plant Variety Rights section of Intellectual Property - A to Z of New Zealand Law will be updated over the next couple of months.