Plant variety
A grant of Plant Breeders Rights may be made for a variety if: 
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- it is D istinct
- it is U niform
- it is S table
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Commonly abbreviated to DUS |
- an acceptable denomination (variety name) is proposed
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New Variety
A variety is considered to be new if propagating material, whole plant or harvested material of it .has not been sold or offered for sale with the agreement of the owner in Kenya for more than 1 year before the date of application, or outside Kenya, for more than 6 years before application date in the case of woody plants, or more than 4 years for non-woody plants.
The owner is expected to have taken every reasonable precaution to ensure that no plant of the new variety or any part of it is sold earlier than the time allowed.
This prior sale rule does not apply where the sale is part of a contractual arrangement for increasing the applicant's stock or for carrying out evaluation trials or tests under which the whole of the material produced directly or indirectly and any unused propagating material becomes or remains the property of the applicant; or plant material produced during the breeding, increasing of stock and trials or tests of the variety and not required for these purposes, is disposed off for non-propagating purposes.
Distinctness
The variety must be distinct from all commonly known varieties existing at the pi date of application, in one or more of the following characteristics: morphology (e.g. shape, colour); physiological (e.g. disease resistance); or other (e.g. protein content).
Uniformity
The variety must be sufficiently uniform.
Stability
The variety must remain true to its description after repeated propagation.
Denomination
Every applicant for Plant Breeders' Rights must propose a denomination for the new variety .The denomination should conform to internationally accepted UPOV guidelines on recommendations for variety denominations. If the proposed denomination is unacceptable the Registrar of PBRs will require the applicant to propose an alternative.
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
It is possible for a breeder who has already made application for rights in another UPQV country to claim ""priority" in respect of an earlier application. Such a claim must be made when applying in Kenya by completing the relevant section of the application form. If there has been more than one application overseas, priority may only be claimed for the first application. The first overseas application should have been made within 1 year before the date of application in Kenya. The advantage of claiming priority is that the date of application overseas becomes regarded in effect as the date of application in Kenya. This may give an applicant precedence over competitors that he or she would not otherwise have enjoyed.
PROTECTIVE DIRECTION
Protective direction gives an applicant interim ~ protection of the candidate variety while the application is under consideration. It automatically applies once an application has been made and ceases to have effect when the registrar issues or refuses a grant. While protective direction is in effect, an applicant who has released a variety into commerce is entitled to take legal proceedings against anyone whose actions would constitute an infringement, if rights had been granted.
