Other Advisory Services

Plant Variety Protection

Plant variety protection is now possible in Malaysia following approval of the implementing regulations of the Protection of New Plant Varieties Act 2004 (NPV Act) on 20th October 2008. A sui generis system of protection, Malaysia's NPV Act is in line with the Convention on Biological Diversity and is modeled on the International Convention for the Protection of New Plant Varieties.

It is generally the intention for the NPV Act to offer protection to all crops, i.e. an open list system. Currently, priority is given to a list of 25 crops divided amongst local ornamental, fruit, industrial and cereal crops, as well as forest plantation species that are vital to the Malaysian agriculture sector. Acceptance of applications for varieties other than those on the priority list is at the discretion of the Plant Variety Protection Registration Office and is subject to the availability of technical expertise to assess the application.

Henry Goh was one of the first firms to file applications for registration of new plant varieties under the NPV Act. Our team has the relevant technical expertise needed to advise on the unique requirements of filing and prosecution of plant variety applications.