The effectiveness of plant variety rights starts from the date of approval and publication of the plant variety rights application.

The term of a plant variety right for a tree or a perennial vine plant shall be twenty-five (25) years from the date of approval and publication of the variety right. The term of the variety right for all other plant species shall be twenty (20) years from the date of approval and publication of the variety right.

The holder of a variety right shall have the exclusive right to preclude others from engaging, without the consent of the holder, in the following acts with respect to plant seeds to which the holder has the variety right:
1. roduction or reproduction (multiplication),
2. conditioning for the purpose of propagation,
3. offering for sale,
4. selling or otherwise marketing,
5. importing or exporting, or
6. holding for any of the purposes in the preceding 5 Subparagraphs.
The holder of a variety right shall have the exclusive right to preclude others from engaging, without the consent of the holder, in the acts as set forth in the Subparagraphs of the preceding Paragraph with respect to the harvested material obtained through use of plant seeds of such variety.
The holder of a variety right shall have the exclusive right to preclude others from engaging, without the consent of the holder of the variety right, in the acts as set forth in the Subparagraphs of Paragraph 1 with respect to processed products obtained directly through the use of the harvested material under the preceding Paragraph, provided that this provision shall apply only to plant species published by the competent authority.
The exercise of the rights as referred to in the preceding two Paragraphs shall be limited to where the holder of the variety right has had no reasonable opportunity to exercise his or her rights with respect to the acts in the Subparagraphs of Paragraph 1.

The protection of variety rights under the preceding Article shall extend to the following dependent varieties:
1. A variety substantially derived from a variety protected by the variety right, and where such protected variety is not substantially derived from another variety;
2. A variety not clearly distinguishable in comparison with a variety protected by the variety right; or
3. A variety that requires repeated use of a variety protected by the variety right in order to be produced.
The protection of a variety right shall not extend to a dependent variety whose existence was a matter of common knowledge before the amendment to this Act takes effect.
A "variety substantially derived" from another variety as referred to in Subparagraph 1 of Paragraph 1 shall meet the following requirements:
1. The variety is derived from an initial variety, or from a variety that is substantially derived from an initial variety;
2. The variety is clearly distinguishable in comparison with the initial variety; and
3. The variety, except for differences as a result of the act of derivation, retains the characteristics expressed by the genotype or combination of genotypes of the initial variety.

The protection of a variety right shall not extend to any of the acts in the following Subparagraphs:
1. Acts done by an individual for non-profit purposes;
2. Acts done for experimental or research purposes;
3. Acts done for the purpose of breeding other varieties, but not including acts for the purpose of breeding dependent varieties set forth in Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article;
4. Acts done by farmers of keeping, for the farmer's own use, plant seeds of a variety protected by a variety right or of the harvested material obtained from plant seeds of dependent varieties as set forth in Subparagraphs 1 and 2 of Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article;
5. Acts, at a farmer's request and for the purpose of providing the farmer with propagating material, of engaging in the conditioning and nursing of harvested material obtained from the propagating material of a variety protected by a variety right, or of its dependent variety;
6. Acts done of domestically selling or otherwise circulating any material of a variety protected by a variety right, or its dependent variety, as undertaken voluntarily by or with the consent of the holder of the variety right, but not including acts of further propagation of such protected variety; or
7. Acts done with respect to any material derived from the material set forth in the preceding Subparagraph, but not including acts of further propagation of such protected variety.
Subparagraphs 4 and 5 of the preceding Paragraph shall apply only to plant species published by the central competent authority for the purposes of ensuring food safety.
The "material" as referred to in Paragraph 1 means any propagating material, harvested material, and products made directly from the harvested material, of a variety. Such harvested material shall include entire or parts of the plant.
Acts done under Subparagraphs 6 and 7 of Paragraph 1 shall not include acts of exporting propagating material of such protected variety to a country that does not protect the plant genus or species to which the variety belongs, provided that this provision shall not apply where the purpose is for final consumption.

A variety right may be licensed to and exercised by a third party.
The license of a variety right to others or the creation of a pledge on a variety right shall be registered with the central competent authority. Unless registered, no action may be taken against a bona fide third party.

Without the consent of the holders of two-thirds or more of the interested shares in a variety right, no joint owner shall assign his or her own share, license others to exercise such share, or create a pledge on such share; provided, however, that if the parties have agreed otherwise, the terms of such agreement shall govern.

A variety right holder shall not abandon his or her rights without the consent of his or her licensee(s) or pledgee(s).

In response to significant national situations or to make non-profit use for the enhancement of the public interest, or in the case of an applicant's failure to reach a licensing agreement with the holder of a variety right under reasonable commercial terms within a considerable period of time, the central competent authority may grant a compulsory license to exercise such variety right upon request, provided that such license is exercised mainly for the purposes of satisfying domestic market demand.
Compulsory licenses shall be nonexclusive and nontransferable licenses only. The period of a compulsory license shall be clearly specified in the license; however, in no event shall the period exceed 4 years.
In the absence of the conditions set forth in Paragraph 1, the central competent authority still may grant a compulsory license for the exercise of a variety right to the person applying for a compulsory license upon receipt of a request from the person in the event that the holder of such variety right has engaged in restricting competition or in unfair competition as confirmed by a court decision or by a decision of the Fair Trade Commission of the Executive Yuan.
Upon receipt of a written request for a compulsory license, the central competent authority shall serve a copy of the request on the holder of the variety right, requesting the holder of the variety right to make a defense within 3 months. If no defense is responded within the specified time limit, the central competent authority may decide the matter by its authority.
A compulsory license with respect to a variety right shall not preclude others from obtaining a right to exercise such variety right.
The holder of the compulsory licensee shall provide the holder of the variety right with appropriate remuneration. In the case of a dispute, it shall be determined by the central competent authority.
The compulsory license shall be transacted together with the business pertaining to the compulsory license for assignment, inheritance, license, or pledge creation.
When the reason for the compulsory license ceases to exist, the central competent authority may annul the compulsory license upon request.

If the holder who has obtained a compulsory license in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Article violates the purpose of the compulsory license, the central competent authority may, upon an request filed by the holder of the variety right or ex officio, annul the compulsory license.

Regardless of whether the term for a variety right has expired, any person who sells or otherwise markets a variety that currently is protected by, or at one time was protected by a variety right, shall be required to use the denomination of the variety for which the corresponding variety right was obtained.
Where such variety denomination is to be indicated together with a trade name or a trademark, such denomination shall be clearly recognizable as the variety denomination.