机构沿革与设立背景
共同体植物品种办公室（Community Plant Variety Office，缩写 CPVO）是依据欧盟理事会 1994 年 7 月 27 日颁布的第 2100/94 号条例设立的欧盟机构，总部设在法国昂热（Angers）。办公室在 1995 年 4 月 27 日正式开始运作，1996 年 12 月 6 日由各成员国政府代表会议决定总部设在法国昂热。CPVO 是一家具独立法人地位的分散式欧盟机构，运营经费主要来自品种权申请人缴纳的申请费、审查费与续展费，不从欧盟预算中拨款，也不向欧盟预算缴款。
CPVO 承担的是欧盟范围内植物育种者权利（plant variety rights）的统一审查与授予工作。申请人通过向 CPVO 提交一份申请，就能在所有欧盟成员国获得植物新品种的知识产权保护，无需在各国分别申请。这种单一申请覆盖全部成员国的机制，是 1991 年国际植物新品种保护联盟（UPOV）公约修订后欧盟在区域层面的一次制度化实践，也使欧盟体系成为目前全球覆盖范围最广的植物品种权保护系统之一。
职责范围与法律基础
CPVO 的核心职责是依据第 2100/94 号条例对欧盟植物品种权（Community Plant Variety Right，简称 CPVR）申请进行受理、形式审查、技术审查与最终授权。申请人既可以直接向 CPVO 提交申请，也可以先递交到某一成员国的国家植物品种办公室，再由该国机构转交 CPVO。CPVO 的法律基础是欧盟基本条例及其后续修订案，特别是 2003 年第 1650/2003 号条例新增的第 33a 条，明确把欧盟关于公众查阅文件的第 1049/2001 号条例延伸适用于 CPVO 持有的文件。
CPVO 同时向欧盟委员会、欧盟理事会、欧洲议会以及各成员国提供植物品种权立法和政策方面的咨询意见，并在国际植物新品种保护联盟（UPOV）中扮演比较积极的角色。办公室还负责运营官方的植物品种数据库和电子申请系统，并协调一个由各成员国审查办公室组成的技术审查网络，负责品种的 DUS（特异性、一致性、稳定性）测试。CPVO 的经费、年度预算和决算由欧洲审计法院审计，按欧盟机构财务条例对外公开。
申请流程与品种审查
申请欧盟植物品种权大致分为五个步骤：申请提交、形式审查、技术审查、品种命名审定、授权。CPVO 接受在线申请和纸质申请两种方式，在线申请费为 450 欧元，纸质申请费为 800 欧元。申请提交后，CPVO 会核对申请是否完整合规，之后为该品种安排技术审查。大部分观赏植物品种的 DUS 测试通常需要一个生长周期，部分果树品种则需要长达六年的种植观察。
技术审查由 CPVO 委托的成员国审查办公室承担，按 CPVO 制定的技术议定书执行，必要时也参考 UPOV 的测试指南。审查内容包括品种的特异性（与已知品种明显区别）、一致性（群体内性状整齐）和稳定性（繁殖多代后性状保持）。如果审查通过、命名也通过审定，CPVO 会授予共同体植物品种权，保护期一般为 25 年，葡萄、马铃薯和树木则为 30 年。获权后，权利人可以在欧盟全境对侵权行为主张权利，并通过欧盟海关在边境扣押侵权繁殖材料。
数据库与品种查询
CPVO 维护着多个公开的植物品种数据库，其中最重要的是 CPVO 品种检索数据库（CPVO Variety Finder）。该数据库整合了全球 70 多个国家的植物品种权数据，包括欧盟成员国植物育种者权利数据（QZ PBR）、国家保护品种数据（PBR）、国家植物品种登记和欧盟共同目录数据（NLI）、部分商业品种登记（COM）、欧盟第 31 类注册商标（EUTM）以及植物专利（PLP）。CPVO 与 UPOV 签订合作协议，非欧盟成员国的数据从 UPOV PLUTO 数据库导入。
CPVO 还在官网公开另一个检索数据库，记录所有在册的申请和已授权的 CPVR，权利人状态、品种命名、申请号、申请日、授权日、保护期终止日等信息都可以查阅。CPVO 每两个月发布一期的《官方公报》（S2/S3 出版物）是这些信息的官方权威来源，申请人、权利人、代理人或公众都可以通过公报跟踪文件进展。访问官方文件方面，CPVO 自 1999 年起就实施了公众查阅文件规则，2003 年第 33a 条出台后与欧盟第 1049/2001 号条例全面接轨。
管理架构与国际合作
CPVO 由行政理事会（Administrative Council）、主席（President）和各司职能部门组成。行政理事会由各成员国代表和欧盟委员会代表构成，负责审议办公室的战略规划、年度预算、人事编制和重大决定。现任主席 Francesco Mattina。CPVO 的工作人员约为 50 人左右，是欧盟 44 个分散式机构中规模较小的机构之一，与欧洲职业培训、食品安全、卫星导航等其他机构一起，承担欧盟政策在专门领域内的执行工作。
在国际层面，CPVO 是 UPOV 体系下的重要成员机构，与各国植物品种权主管机构保持密切联系。它还参与了由欧盟地平线 2020 计划资助的 INVITE 项目，目标是优化 DUS 测试方法、推动各成员国审查办公室之间的数据共享，并研究品种在不同生产条件和生物/非生物胁迫下的表现。在 2025 年 4 月，CPVO 在昂热举办成立 30 周年研讨会，邀请欧盟政策制定者、产业代表和育种者共同讨论植物育种与知识产权保护的未来。
History and establishment
The Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) is a European Union agency established under Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 of 27 July 1994, with its seat in Angers, France. The Office became operational on 27 April 1995, and on 6 December 1996 the Intergovernmental Conference of representatives of the Member States confirmed Angers as its seat. The CPVO is a decentralised European agency with its own legal personality. It is self-financed, principally through the fees paid by applicants and title holders, and neither draws from nor contributes to the EU general budget.
The CPVO administers the Community Plant Variety Rights system, the only EU-wide intellectual property right for new plant varieties. By filing a single application to the CPVO, a breeder can obtain protection valid in all 27 EU Member States, without having to pursue parallel national procedures. The system is built on the 1991 Act of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) Convention and, in cumulative terms, ranks among the largest plant variety rights systems in the world.
Mandate and legal basis
The core mandate of the CPVO is to process and decide on applications for Community Plant Variety Rights (CPVR) under the Basic Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 and its successive amendments. Applicants may file either directly with the CPVO or via one of the national plant variety offices of the Member States, which then forward the file to Angers. The Office’s mandate also covers advice to the EU institutions and Member States on plant variety rights legislation and policy, and the operation of a network of entrusted examination offices that carry out the technical examination of candidate varieties.
Council Regulation (EC) No 1650/2003 introduced Article 33a to the Basic Regulation, extending Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 on public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents to documents held by the CPVO from 1 October 2003. The Administrative Council then adopted the practical arrangements on 24 March 2004. The Office’s budget, annual accounts and procurement are subject to EU financial regulation and audit by the European Court of Auditors. The CPVO also plays an active role in UPOV and represents the EU plant variety rights community in international policy discussions.
Application procedure and technical examination
An application for Community Plant Variety Rights generally goes through five steps: filing, formal check, technical examination, variety denomination testing, and grant of title. The CPVO accepts both online applications, at a fee of 450 euro, and paper applications, at a fee of 800 euro. Once an application is valid and complete, the Office entrusts one of the examination offices in its network with the technical examination of the candidate variety, following a CPVO technical protocol or, where appropriate, an UPOV test guideline.
The technical examination verifies that the variety is Distinct, Uniform and Stable (DUS) when compared with existing varieties. The duration depends on the species: most ornamentals require one growing cycle, while some fruit species need up to six years of observation. Once the examination is satisfactory and the proposed denomination passes the denomination test, the CPVO grants a Community Plant Variety Right. Protection lasts 25 years in general, and 30 years for vines, potatoes and trees. Holders can enforce the right against infringers throughout the EU and request customs action at the EU border.
Databases and variety information
The CPVO operates a set of public databases, the most prominent being the CPVO Variety Finder. The Variety Finder aggregates plant variety rights data from more than 70 countries, including EU plant breeders’ rights data (QZ PBR), national PBR data (PBR), national listings and EU common catalogue data (NLI), selected commercial registers (COM), EU trade marks in class 31 (EUTM) and plant patents (PLP). Under a cooperation agreement with UPOV, data from non-EU countries are transferred from the UPOV PLUTO database.
The Office also runs a public register of CPVR applications and titles in force, searchable online through the CPVO website. The CPVO Official Gazette, published every two months, remains the only official publication of the register. Information available to the public covers the status of applications, variety denominations, filing dates, grant dates and termination dates. Public access to documents held by the Office follows the rules in Article 33a of the Basic Regulation and Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
Governance and international cooperation
The CPVO is governed by an Administrative Council composed of representatives of the Member States and of the European Commission. The Council decides on strategic plans, the annual budget, staff establishment and other key matters. The President, currently Francesco Mattina, leads the day-to-day work of the Office. With around 50 staff, the CPVO is one of the smaller of the 44 decentralised EU agencies that together touch the daily lives of around 500 million EU citizens across fields ranging from vocational training and health to transport and satellite systems.
At international level, the CPVO is an active member of UPOV and cooperates closely with national plant variety rights authorities worldwide. It participates in the INVITE project funded under the EU Horizon 2020 research programme, which aims to optimise DUS testing methods, share variety performance data across Member States and study variety behaviour under different production conditions and biotic and abiotic stresses. On 24 April 2025 the Office held a seminar in Angers to mark its 30th anniversary, bringing together EU policymakers, industry representatives and breeders to discuss the future of plant breeding and intellectual property in Europe.
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