No Liability for Planting a Protected Plant Variety and Harvesting Fruit that Is Not Liable to Be Used as Propagating Material

Abstract

[EN] 1. The statute of limitations that applies to physical property in accordance to Art. 85 of the Commercial Code, does not apply to the ius prohibendi derived from intellectual property protection, because this type of property is distinguishable from the physical objects in which it is contained. 2. The breeder may not prohibit the use of variety constituents for the sole purpose of producing an agricultural harvest, but only acts leading to the reproduction and propagation of the protected variety. 3. The protection granted in Art. 13(3) of Regulation 2100/ 94 regarding harvested material is not applicable when such material was obtained from variety constituents that were distributed in the period between the publication of the application for a Community plant variety and the granting thereof.