Plant Varieties (Proprietary Rights) (Amendment) Act, 1998
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Information notice. |
20.— (1) Where— | |
(a) a holder has reasonable grounds for believing that harvested material of a protected variety is being offered for sale, and | ||
(b) an authorisation has not been granted for the carrying out of— | ||
(i) any act specified in section 18 (1) in respect of the propagating material of the protected variety, or | ||
(ii) any act specified in section 18 (2) in respect of the unauthorised harvest material of the protected variety, | ||
the holder may request a person who sells or offers for sale such harvested material to furnish information, in accordance with this section, in respect of such harvested material. | ||
(2) A holder may serve a notice (in this Act referred to as an “information notice”) on a person referred to in subsection (1) which shall be in the prescribed form and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, shall— | ||
(a) state the denomination and species of the plant variety so offered for sale and the name and address of the holder, | ||
(b) specify the harvested material of the plant variety so offered for sale and to which the information notice relates, | ||
(c) require the person to whom it is addressed to provide— | ||
(i) the name and address of the producer, the supplier and any prior owners of the harvested material of the plant variety so offered for sale, and | ||
(ii) information concerning the quantity of the harvested material of the plant variety so offered for sale that was produced, ordered and delivered to that person, | ||
and | ||
(d) require the person to whom it is addressed to furnish the information to the holder within 21 days of the service of such information notice. | ||
(3) Where an information notice has been served in accordance with this section and the person on whom such information notice has been served has not furnished or has failed to adequately furnish the information so requested, for the purposes of proceedings for an infringement of plant breeders’ rights concerning the offering for sale of the harvested material of the plant variety specified in the information notice, it shall be presumed that— | ||
(a) the harvested material of the plant variety so offered for sale was obtained by means of an unauthorised use of the propagating material of the protected variety, and | ||
(b) the holder did not have a reasonable opportunity before the harvested material was obtained to exercise plant breeders’ rights in relation to the unauthorised use of the propagating material, | ||
unless the contrary is proved or there are reasonable grounds for not supplying or for failing to adequately supply the information. | ||
(4) A holder shall not use any information furnished pursuant to an information notice for any purpose other than— | ||
(a) establishing that there has been an infringement of plant breeders’ rights of the protected variety referred to in the information notice, or | ||
(b) use in proceedings for infringement of plant breeders’ rights of the protected variety referred to in the information notice. | ||
(5) An information notice shall be addressed to the person concerned and served on or given to such person in one of the following ways— | ||
(a) by addressing it to the person by name and delivering it to that person, | ||
(b) by leaving it at the address at which the person ordinarily resides or carries on any trade or business or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, at that address, or | ||
(c) by sending it by post in a prepaid registered letter addressed to the person at the person at the address at which that person ordinarily resides or carries on any trade or business. |