In South Africa, a patent may not be granted for any variety of plant or animal. An exception is made for plants or animals which are the product of a microbiological process.

A new variety which is developed by way of cross-breeding, for example, may accordingly not be patented. It may however be protected by way of a Plant Breeder’s Right, provided all requirements are met.

In terms of the Act, a variety is deemed to be:-

• "new if propagating material or harvested material thereof has not been sold or otherwise disposed of by, or with the consent of, the breeder for purposes of exploitation of the variety -
  1. in the Republic, not more than one year; and
  2. in a convention country or an agreement country, in the case of -
     1. varieties of vines and trees, not more than six years; or
     2. other varieties, not more than four years

  prior to the date of filing of the application for a plant breeder’s right;
  
  Therefore, if plant material was made available to the public in South Africa, the applicant has a grace period of one year within which to apply for protection. If it was made publicly available overseas, the grace period is longer.

  A variety is deemed to be:-

• distinct if, at the date of filing of the application for a plant breeder's right, it is clearly distinguishable from any other variety of the same kind of plant of which the existence on that date is a matter of common knowledge;
  
• uniform if, subject to the variation that may be expected from the particular features of the propagation thereof, it is sufficiently uniform with regard to the characteristics of the variety in question; and
  
• stable if the characteristics thereof remain unchanged after repeated propagation or, in the case of a particular cycle of propagation, at the end of such cycle.

• The full name and address of the applicant;
• A description, in the prescribed technical questionnaire, of a typical plant of the variety concerned and of the procedure to be used for the maintenance and reproduction of the variety concerned. This questionnaire is the standard UPOV questionnaire which is available on request;
• Coloured illustrations of a typical plant of the variety concerned showing characteristic leaf, stalk and fruit shape. Black and white illustrations are acceptable, although photographs showing natural colours are preferred. The illustration should also include a metric scale;
• An indication as to the proposed denomination of the variety concerned. The denomination should accord with UPOV rules;
• If priority is to be claimed, the name of the convention country, the denomination specified in that country and the date of application for a plant breeder's right in that country; and
• A Power of Attorney which need not be legalised or witnessed;
• Assignment from the breeder if the application is not filed in the breeder's name.

An application for registration is examined by the authorities and samples of the plant in issue will generally be required for testing. The examination normally takes between three and five years.

Unless permission is obtained from the authorities, the variety may not be sold or commercially exploited in South Africa during the examination and until registration. Application can be made for provisional protection in order to prevent others from doing so.