Plant Breeders' Rights are a form of intellectual property rights by which plant breeders can protect their new varieties in the same way an inventor protects a new invention with a patent.

With the grant of a Plant Breeders' Rights for a new plant variety, the owner obtains the exclusive rights to produce for sale, and to sell, reproductive material of the variety. The owner is then able to protect the variety from exploitation by others and can take legal action against individuals or companies that are propagating and selling reproductive material without permission.

The holder of the rights may also take action to prevent another person or business from using the approved denomination (variety name) of the protected variety when selling propagating material of another variety of the same genus or species.

For more details see the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's Plant Breeders' Rights Office website