Two weeks to APHA final deadline for Retained EU rights
Posted in IP Law and AdministrationPVR Application News on 15 February 2024We have received confirmation from APHA that holders of “retained EU rights” in the UK need to act before the 29th February 2024.
Bumblebee on Coreopsis Flying Saucers
What are Retained EU rights?
“Retained EU rights” are UK PBRs that were granted to holders of EU PVRs, which were granted and in force on 31 December 2020.
What do I need to do?
Holders of these rights who are not domiciled in the United Kingdom must contact APHA and provide a UK address. This can either be their own address (if they have a UK address), or they can appoint an agent based in the UK using a PVS11 form.
It’s time to act
There have been several deadlines for this process. However, it seems a final deadline has now been set of Thursday 29 February 2024.
Failure to act by that date will lead to the UK rights being cancelled. There is no mechanism to reverse cancellation.
Up to 8,000 PBRs as yet unclaimed
It is important to note that APHA only has the contact information that was held by CPVO on 31 December 2020 – and only details for the rights holder, not for the procedural representative.
Plus, if the contact details or ownership details held by CPVO have changed since then, APHA will not have that new data. APHA is only able to contact holders of rights using the postal address that was held on file on 31 December 2020.
APHA recently said that about 40% of the relevant rights have still not been “claimed” by the owners. Our estimate is that this could be as many as 8,000 PBRs.
Need to act? We can help!
If you hold a Retained EU right and need help with this process, Plants For Europe can provide the necessary services. For more information, contact the PFE office:
Graham Spencer, director: graham@plantsforeurope.com
Alice Crick, marketing executive: alice@plantsforeurope.com
Telephone: +44 1825 731831