Plant variety protection is a type of intellectual property right granted to the person or entity that breeds a new plant variety. The rights are also known as plant breeder’s rights (PBR). PBRs allow plant breeders the right to prevent persons from commercializing the protected variety without prior authorization of the breeder. This authorization is normally in the form of a license agreement between the title holder and those who sell the variety.
There is no IP system of protection that specifically protects plant varieties in St. Kitts and Nevis as yet. Stakeholders are currently exploring varying avenues to bring this to reality in the near future, including for example, membership to The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV).