At the seventh Electronic Applications Meeting (EAM/7) held virtually on March 16 2026, UPOV members reviewed progress across the organization's digital plant variety protection tools and formally advanced the UPOV PRISMA Plus Pilot Project, an initiative aimed at harmonizing and simplifying the application process for plant breeders filing across multiple jurisdictions.
Presenting developments on the online PVP filing system: UPOV PRISMA, the Secretariat reported that 40 authorities are now using or committed to using the platform, following the addition of African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), Japan, and Nigeria in 2025.
The system processed 1,864 application transfers in 2025 across 26 authorities, with active users rising to 958. The current release: Version 2.12, is being rolled out in two parts, adding new crops for Morocco, the Republic of Moldova and Serbia, and introducing national listing functionality for Türkiye.
Building on this foundation, Version 3.0 - scheduled for release by end of June 2026 - will represent a major platform update, migrating to the cloud and introducing redesigned user interfaces, improved user management, enhanced bulk upload functionality, and improved accessibility. A preview of Version 3.0 was demonstrated at the meeting.
Progress was also reported on the Distinctiveness Uniformity Stability (DUS) Report Exchange Module, through which 681 requests and 116 DUS reports have now been exchanged across 16 participating authorities. The e-PVP Administration Module, currently used by Viet Nam and the United Kingdom to manage nearly 10,000 plant breeders' rights records and over 16,000 national listing entries, is set to expand with Ghana committing to join in 2026.
The meeting gave particular attention to the UPOV PRISMA Plus Pilot Project, which was formally kicked off on January 27, 2026, with participation from Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the United States of America, and breeder organizations ISF and CIOPORA. The project aims to identify a set of common core information requirements that could underpin a streamlined, harmonized application procedure, simplifying the filing process for breeders while generating efficiency gains for PVP offices. The initiative does not seek to replace national or regional application systems, and member authorities will retain the freedom to use their own application forms within UPOV PRISMA.
Hend Madhour, Head of IT at UPOV, said: "The launch of the PRISMA Plus Pilot Project marks an important step forward in our efforts to make plant variety protection more accessible and efficient for breeders worldwide. By working with members and breeder organizations to identify a common core of application information, we are laying the groundwork for a more streamlined process that benefits everyone from the individual breeder filing an application to the PVP offices processing them. This is not about replacing what works at the national level, but about reducing duplication and making it easier to seek protection across multiple jurisdictions. We look forward to the continued engagement of members and stakeholders as we move through the phases of this project."
Feedback received from participating authorities following the project's first round of consultations indicated broad alignment on key data blocks, including applicant details, crop information, variety denomination, DUS testing status, novelty, priority claims, and attachments. The next round of discussions on draft core and additional information is scheduled for March–April 2026, with comments due by April 17, 2026.
Members also received updates on continuous efforts to improve the user-friendliness of UPOV PRISMA, including through the UPOV PRISMA Task Force, which met in November 2025 and is next scheduled to convene on May 12, 2026. Twenty-five authorities responded to the annual request to update PVP office procedures, and a dedicated webinar was organized with the United Kingdom, drawing 85 participants on February 4, 2026. Form synchronization work was completed for ARIPO, the Republic of Moldova, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, South Africa, and Uruguay.
Next steps
The PRISMA Plus Pilot Project will move into its second phase from June 2026, focused on agreeing standard wording for core information, with a second project meeting scheduled for August 11, 2026. A third project meeting presenting final outcomes is planned for December 10, 2026. Phase three, covering implementation of the agreed form and procedure, is tentatively scheduled to commence in January 2027.
The next EAM meeting (EAM/8) is scheduled for Tuesday, October 20, 2026, in hybrid format.
What is the Electronic Applications Meeting?
The Electronic Applications Meeting (EAM) is a UPOV forum that brings together member authorities, observers, and representatives of breeders' organizations to oversee the development and implementation of UPOV's digital tools for plant variety protection.
The EAM monitors the use and strategic direction of the UPOV e-PVP platform: encompassing UPOV PRISMA, the UPOV e-PVP Administration Module,the UPOV e-PVP DUS Report Exchange Module , and PLUTO database, and provides a space for members to share experience, coordinate on technical developments, and shape the future of digital cooperation under the UPOV system. Further details are available on the EAM page.