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Formulation of Indian PPV&FR Act, 2001

1. All newly developed plant varieties were notified and released under the Seed Act of 1966 that mostly belonged to the public sector. 2. A proposal to draft a “ Plant Variety Protection” bill was made in 1990. But this proposal gained momentum only after India became signatory to WTO/TRIPS Agreement in Jan1, 1995. When it become mandatory to signatory nations to protect plant variety by Patent or an effective Sui generis system of protection or both as per stipulation of Article 27.3(b) of the TRIPS Agreement . 3. Protection of Plant Variety and Farmer’s Right bill passed by Lok Sabha on 9 th August 2001 and enacted by parliament on 16 th August 2001 as Act No.53 of 2001. 4. The Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India by a Gazette Notification No. S.O. 1589 (E) dated 11 th November 2005 has established a Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority for implementation of various provisions of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers, Rights (PPV&FR)...

Compulsory License in Indian Plant Variety Protection Legislation

A compulsory license (CL) is an involuntary contract between a willing buyer and an unwilling seller imposed and enforced by the state. It is usually practiced in patent, copyright and other exclusive rights. In India compulsory license provision is enshrined in Plant Variety Protection & Farmer Right Act, 2001. The provision iterates that the Authority may give order after providing opportunity of hearing to the both parties (holder of Plant Variety Right & Licensee) to use the right’s of owner. Usually, the holder does receive some royalties, either set by law or determined through some form of arbitration. We may now discuss some of the point related to CL in PPV&FR Act, 2001 & Rules 2003, as under: Who can file application for grant of CL & When to file? Any person  interested,   at any time, after the  expiry of three years (same as in Indonesia & Thailand)  from the date of issue of a certificate of registration of a variety, may make a...

A brief introduction of Plant Variety Protection in China

On March 20, 1997, the State Council promulgated the 'Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Varieties of Plants'( here ). Thereafter China deposited its instrument for accession to the 1978 Act of the UPOV Convention and became the 39th leaguer State of UPOV on April 23, 1999. On the same date, the Plant Variety Protection Office of the Ministry of Agriculture started to receive PVP applications domestically and internationally. The 'Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of New Varieties of Plants is divided in Seven Chapters & these chapters are further divided in 46 articles. CHAPTER I   GENERAL PROVISIONS CHAPTER II  CONTENT AND OWNERSHIP OF VARIETY RIGHTS CHAPTER III   CONDITIONS FOR THE GRANT OF VARIETY RIGHTS CHAPTER IV   APPLICATION FOR VARIETY RIGHTSAND RECEIPT THEREOF CHAPTER V     EXAMINATION AND APPROVAL OF VARIETY RIGHTS CHAPTER VI  TERM, TERMINATION ...

A Brief Introduction of CPVO

The Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) has been operating since 27 April 1995 . On 6 December 1996, the Intergovernmental Conference of representatives of the Member States (IGC) decided that the seat of the CPVO would be in Angers (France). The CPVO, which is a decentralized Community agency, has its own legal status. It is self-financing, mainly on the basis of the various fees paid. Detail of CPVO can be seen ( here ) Structure of the CPVO: The Administrative Council: the CPVO is supervised by its Administrative Council, comprising a representative of each Member State and a representative of the European Commission, and their alternates. The Administrative Council advises the CPVO, formulates its general orientations and general guidelines, provides opinions, constitutes the budgetary authority of the CPVO, examines and controls both its activities and those of its President. The Administrative Council is in particular responsible for: Adopting the Budget Examining ...

Researcher Right or Breeder Right under PPV& FR Act, 2001

PPV&FR Act, 2001, has recognized the significance of Researcher Right or Breeder Right. As one of the objectives of the PPV& FR Act is “establishment of an effective system for protection of plant varieties, the rights of farmers and plant breeders and to encourage the development of new varieties of plants. Breeder means a person or group of persons or a farmer or group of farmers or any institution which has bred, evolved or developed any variety under section 2(c) of the Act. Interpretation: “Any variety” means to me is Extent variety, New variety, Farmer’s Variety and EDV variety. Under section 30 of PPV&FR Act, Breeder or researcher shall not prevented to (a) the use of any variety registered under this Act by any person using such variety for conducting experiment or research (b) the use of a variety by any person as an initial source of variety for the purpose of creating other varieties. Interpretation: It means to me that any person can use any registered...