Plant variety rights are rights granted to plant breeders (or owners of the variety) over cultivated plant varieties they have bred or discovered and developed. Administered by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Government of the Hong Kong SAR, the procedures for applying for such proprietary rights are set out by the Plant Varieties Protection Ordinance (Cap. 490), which covers all botanical genera and species of vascular plants as well as edible fungi and algae.

Owners of plant variety rights shall have the exclusive rights to:

  1. produce reproductive material of the protected variety for the purpose of commercial marketing;
  2. sell or offer for sale reproductive material of the protected variety;
  3. import/export reproductive material of the protected variety; and
  4. license others to carry out the above activities.