By Donnie Dong & Lucia Li
China released its Amendments to the Regulations for Protection of New Plant Variety Rights (“Amendments”) on May 1, 2025, which was passed by the PRC State Council on April 18.
The Amendments introduced more detailed and stringent provisions regarding the Plant Variety Rights (“PVRs”), such as the scope of protection, the application and examination, the duration of protection, and the administrative enforcement. These changes are generally good news for breeders and mark a significant step forward in strengthening the PVR protection. However, some amendments (especially in terms of the “novelty” requirements) may impact the overseas breeders’ overall filing strategy and licensing of PVRs in China.
Below is a summary of the key amendments made.
- The Amendments confirmed that the Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs or Bureau of Forest and Grass of each county has jurisdiction over the administration and enforcement of the PVR Regulations. This is in line with the PRC Seed Law and has been implemented in practice. Having said that, the Amendments give local authorities a stronger motivation to enforce the PVR.
- The Amendments explicated the local enforcement authorities’ powers and investigation measures during their enforcement actions, such as on-site inspections, sample testing, document reviews, and seizure of business premises. Also, the subject matters of the seizure are extended to harvested materials. This will highly enhance the enforcement authorities’ capability in enforcement actions.
- The Amendments clarified that, for those infringers who are unaware of the legal status of the varieties, the enforcement agencies should request them to cease the infringement activities although the monetary penalties can be reduced. This appears to be a restriction to the PVR in theory, however in practice, it is indeed good for the enforcement practice, as the cessation of infringement can be interpreted to be destroying the infringing plants.
- The exclusive rights covered by the PVR are now defined in a clearer manner. The Amendments explicitly prohibit unauthorized acts such as production, sale, import, export, and storage of protected propagating materials. Furthermore, where (i) harvest materials are generated from the aforesaid activities and (ii) there is no chance for the PVR owners to enforce directly these activities, the PVR owner may receive a right to prohibit such harvest. These are again repeating the PRC Seed Law.
- The Amendments clarified the default right owner in the circumstances of employment and commissioned developments:
(1) For the PVRs developed to perform an employee’s job responsibility, the employer retains the right to apply for the PVR
(2) If the employee’s job responsibility does not include the development of new varieties, then the employee will be the default PVR applicant
(3) In the circumstance of commissioned development, the commissioned entity/individual shall be the default PVR applicant
(4) Parties can reach a contract to alter the above default attribution of the PVR
- The Amendments clarified that assignments or pledges of the PVRs shall take effect from the date of registration of the assignment or the pledge, instead of the Gazette date.
- Novelty standards have been broadened to the sale of “harvested materials”. Namely, if a PVR applicant authorized selling harvested materials (and not just the propagating materials) of a variety in China for more than one year prior to the application day, the variety would lose novelty. This requires breeders to carefully review their licensing arrangements and be more cautious for those licenses granted covering multiple jurisdictions.
- The “actual spread” exception: the Amendments provided that if a provincial level administrative enforcement agency determines that a particular variety has been planted widely and has “actually spread”, then the variety would lose novelty. This exception does not consider whether the “spread” was authorized by the breeder or not. It could significantly impact on the protection of varieties. Breeders shall note this exception and promptly file applications for the PVR in China.
- The Amendments confirmed that once granted the PVR, the right owner is entitled to claim monetary compensation against unauthorized growers during the period between publication and the date of granting the PVR. Previously, only the production or sales of propagating materials for commercial purposes would be required to compensate.
- The duration of protection has been extended to 25 years for lianas and forest trees, and 20 years for other plants.
- The Amendments increased the ceiling of the penalty to 10 times the value of the infringing goods with a minimum penalty floor of 10,000 yuan.
- New credit punishment measures are introduced for dishonest behavior during the application process. Responsible individuals may be recorded in the credit record of the relevant subject and these records will be made public to the society.
- The Amendments added a rights restoration mechanism for missing the deadlines during the application/renewal of the PVT due to force majeure or reasonable grounds. Such right restoration application shall be filed within two months after the completion of force majeure.
The 2025 Amendments offer a major upgrade to China’s plant variety protection system—providing stronger legal safeguards, clearer definitions, and tougher enforcement. It supports innovation in plant breeding and reinforces China’s commitment to agricultural sustainability and intellectual property rights.
About the Authors
Donnie Dong, Partner, Hylands Law Firm
Dr. Dong has 20 years of experience in areas of intellectual property, data and privacy, and cross-border disputes. Before joining Hylands, Dr. Dong assumed positions at top universities (Harvard), leading international law firms (Baker McKenzie) and top Fintech companies (Ant Financial). After joining Hylands, Dr. Dong has been awarded “Leading Lawyer of the Year 2024” by the “Premium Legal Service Guide”, “China’s Top 15 Cybersecurity and Data Protection Lawyers of the Year 2025” by Asia Law Business and “Outstanding Legal Talent” by Shanghai Pudong Department of Justice in 2024.
Tel.: +86 152 8830 3896; +852 98343246 (WhatsApp). Email: donghao.sh@hylandslaw.com
