New plant varieties and their names may be protected under the Plant Variety Protection Act.
The condition for obtaining such protection is that the plant variety applied for is new, homogeneous, stable and distinct and is designated by means of a registerable variety denomination.
The conditions for protection are examined by the Federal Office of Plant Varieties in Hanover. The examination procedure includes the growing of the plants to be protected.
The duration of plant variety protection is 25 years, or in exceptional cases 30 years.