The protection of plant varieties in the Republic of Bulgaria is regulated by the Act on Protection of New Plant Varieties and Animal Breeds. This Act settles the relations with respect to the creation, protection and use of new plant varieties. The Act applies to established or discovered and developed plant varieties of any botanical genus and species, including a branch, line, hybrid or pad, regardless of the method of obtaining them (artificial or natural).
The bodies participating in the procedure for granting legal protection to new plant varieties are the the Executive Agency of Variety Testing Field Inspection and Seed Control and the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria.
A certificate for a new plant variety is granted when it is new, different, homogeneous and stable.
The variety must have a variety denomination that is associated with its genetic designation and serves to identify it. Тоit must be distinguished from any other denomination used in the country for this species or for closely related species.
The variety is new when, on the day of application for the certificate, it or the propagating material or its harvest is not offered for sale, sold, subjected to another trade or offered with the consent of the breeder as follows:
The variety is different when it is clearly distinguishable from any other variety which is well known at the date of application.
The variety is homogeneous when, despite the presence of small deviations, the plants are identical in their essential features, including in terms of the peculiarities of their field and vegetative propagation.
The variety is stable when it remains unchanged in its essential characteristics after repeated reproduction.
The protection of animal breeds is regulated by the Act on Protection of New Plant Varieties and Animal Breeds.
The bodies participating in the procedure for granting legal protection to new plant varieties are the the Executive Agency of Variety Testing Field Inspection and Seed Control and the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria.
The validity of a certificate is 30 years from the date of issue.
The application for a breed certificate shall be filed with the Patent Office and shall be entered in the logbook of applications for animal breeds.
An application for a certificate for a breed on which a preliminary examination has been carried out shall be submitted within one month to the Executive Agency of Variety Testing Field Inspection and Seed Control, which shall perform an examination on the merits. The applicant is required to pay the relevant examination fee.
The Patent Office shall publish the application in its Official Bulletin after the 4th month, but not later than the 6th month from the submitting date.
During the examination of the breed on the merits, the Executive Agency of Variety Testing Field Inspection and Seed Control studies and analyzes the following special requirements:
Examination on the merits of breeds, lines and hybrids of silkworm is made by the Executive Agency of Variety Testing Field Inspection and Seed Control.
All protection actions after the examination on the merits are carried out by the Patent Office on the basis of the decisions and reports of the Executive Agency of Variety Testing Field Inspection and Seed Control и The Executive Agency for Selection and Reproduction in Animal Husbandry.
The applicant, the certificate holder and their successors may take action before the Patent Office, Executive Agency of Variety Testing Field Inspection and Seed Control and State Commission on Animal Breeds personally or through a local intellectual property representative, registered with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry by an order determined by the Minister.
Applicants with permanent residence or registered office outside the country are obliged to perform actions before the Patent Office, the Executive Agency of Variety Testing Field Inspection and Seed Control through intellectual property representatives.
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