REGISTRATION OF CULTIVAR NAMES

Registration of cultivar names is an important aspect of any plant industry, ensuring order in that the different cultivars can be identified by distinct names, minimising duplication and confusion in the identity of the different cultivars. Fortytwo years have passed since the first Proteaceae cultivar names were registered in the International Proteaceae Cultivar Register (IPCR) in 1974. There was a very active period during the early 1990s until 2008 when a significant number of cultivar names were registered. Unfortunately, the number of applications for cultivar registration has dropped significantly since then. A possible reason could be the general trend to protect new cultivars with Plant Breeder’s Rights, a form of intellectual property rights on new cultivars which provides for exclusivity for a number of years in the use of the cultivar. The value of the IPCR should however not be underestimated as it is a valuable source of information of names already used in the countries that have undertaken breeding and selections. Although cultivar names used for the registration of Plant Breeders’ Rights have preference over non protected cultivars, the cultivar names registered in the IPCR should be recognised as well as the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), which guides the registration of cultivar names.