PROTECTION OF PLANT VARIETIES

AND
FARMERS’ RIGHTS ACT, 2001

11 Sept 2012
Why Protection for plants is required in
India?

 Compliance with TRIPS

 Some form of IPR protection is
necessary for plants
 Can be in the form of patent protection; or
 By a sui generis system; or
 By a combination of both
Crops Covered under the PPVFRA
 Cereals : Rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, pearl millet
 Legumes: Chickpea, mungbean, urdbean, field pea, rajmash,
lentil, pigeon pea

 Fibre Crops : Cotton and Jute

 Third phase
 Sugarcane , ginger, turmeric
 Fourth Phase
 Oilseeds : Rapeseeds mustard, groundnut, soybean, sunflower,
safflower, castor, sesame, linseed
 Fodder Varieties : Lucerne, berseem
 Vegetables : Tomato, brinjal, okra, cauliflower, cabbage, potato,
onion, garlic
 Flowers : Rose and Chrysanthemum
 Varieties that can be registered

 Novel Variety
 Extant Variety
 Farmers Variety
 Essentially derived variety
 Varieties that are Registrable
Criteria

NOVEL VARIETY IS NEW

DISTINCT ATLEAST ONE ESSENTIAL

CHARACTERISTIC

UNIFORM SUFFICIENTLY UNIFORM

SUSCEPTIBLE TO CHANGE AFTER

STABLE REPEATED PROPAGATION
 NOVELTY OF VARIETY IS
PROTECTED-Sec. 15(3) a

1. EXPLOITATION BY SALE OR
DISPOSAL

IN INDIA OVERSEAS
< 1 YEAR FOR TREES & VINES < 6 YRS
OTHERS < 4 YRS

2. USED FOR TRIAL NOT NOVELTY

DESTROYING
 Extant Variety (Section 2j )

 A variety in public domain is eligible for

protection
 Notified under section 5 of Seeds act 1966
 Farmers’ variety
 A variety about which there is common
knowledge and includes the propagating
material from extant variety
 Registration within Three Years
 Which species ? Not Clear – Can extant
variety get protection – Term of protection
Essentially Derived Variety (Section 2i)
 Is a variety which is essentially derived from an initial variety

 Retains expression of the essential characteristics

 Clearly distinguishable from the initial variety

 Conforms to the initial variety in the expression of essential

characteristics except variation which result in the process of
derivation

 Not clearly defined in the Act

 DUS testing guidelines For EDV not developed yet.

 People who can apply for protection of a Variety

 any person claiming to be the breeder of the variety

 any successor of the breeder of the variety

 any person being the assignee of the breeder of the variety

 any farmer or group of farmers or community of farmers

claiming to be the breeder of the variety

 any person authorised in the prescribed manner by the persons

mentioned above

 any university or publicly funded agricultural institution

claiming to be the breeder of the variety
PVP Conditions
 Denomination
 Descriptors of variety
 Novelty
 DUS Characters
 Parental lines
 Terminator technology
 Rights of the Owner of the Variety
(Sec. 28)
The owner of the protected variety has the right to
• Produce the protected variety
• Sell the variety
• Market the variety
• Distribute the variety
• Import the variety
• Export the variety

In case of the variety being an EDV where the EDV derived

from a protected variety then an authorisation required
from the breeder of the initial variety
 Infringement (Sec. 64)
Any one of the following done by a
person other than the owner or
without his authorisation / license

• Sells, exports, imports or exports a

registered variety

• Sells, exports, imports or exports a

variety deceptively similar to the
registered variety
 Acts not considered to be infringement

Researcher Rights (Sec 30) :

 Use of variety for research and
experimental purposes allowed
 Use of variety as an initial variety for the
creation of a new variety allowed
 Repeated use of the variety for
commercial production of a new variety
is not allowed without the authorization
of the breeder of the registered variety.
 Relief in Case of Infringement
(Sec. 66)

 An injunction awarded against the infringer

 The plaintiff has the option to claim for damages

or a share of the profits of the infringer
 Other Protection Provided

The PPVFRA provides a civil as well as a criminal liability for

other acts which violates the rights of the owner of the
protected variety

 Penalty for selling varieties to which false denomination is

applied (Sec. 71) – punishable offence with heavy fine

 Penalty for falsely representing a variety as registered (Sec

72) – punishable offence

 Penalty for subsequent offence (Sec 73)

 Duty of the Breeder of a Protected
Variety

 Shall in all circumstances provide correctly the

expected yield/performance under a given set of
conditions

 Shall ensure that the denomination of the

protected variety conforms with the description
of the protected variety
 Who is a Farmer ?
A farmer is defined in the PPVFRA as :

Section 2(k) "farmer" means any person who--

i. cultivates crops by cultivating the land himself; or
ii. cultivates crops by directly supervising the cultivation
of land through any other person; or
iii. conserves and preserves, severally or jointly'. with
any person any wild species or traditional varieties, or
adds value to such wild species or traditional varieties
through selection and identification of their useful
properties
 Farmers’ Rights (Sec 39)
 Has the same privilege with respect to a breeder of a variety

 A farmers’ variety shall be entitled for registration if a

declaration has been made that the initial variety has been
lawfully obtained

 Can save, use, sow, resow, exchange, share or sell his farm
produce including seed of a protected variety

 The farmer as such cannot sell branded seeds of a protected

variety

 A farmer can claim damages if the seed of the protected

variety does not give the yield as stated by the breeder.
Protection Against Unintentional Use
(Sec 42)
The act provides farmers against the
unintentional and accidental use of the
protected variety

 No infringement if the farmer was unaware of

the existence of the rights

 A relief granted as damages for infringement

shall not be granted if the farmer proves
before court that at that time he was
unaware of the existence of such right
Farmers Are Exempted From Fees (Sec. 44)

Farmer or a group of farmers not liable to

pay

 Fees in any proceedings

 Including any fees payable for inspection
 For obtaining any copy of a document or a
copy of a decision
 A Compulsory Licensing System

Section 47

 If seeds of a protected variety are not

available after 3 yrs of registration
 in adequate quantity, and
 at reasonable price,
 the Authority may grant license to a third
party to (a) undertake production, and
 (b) distribution and sale of the seed on
reasonable royalty
Benefit Sharing- National Gene Fund

 Authority will invite claims for benefit sharing

from persons or organizations
 Benefit sharing only for Indian Citizens and
Organizations
 Breeder can oppose the claims
 Authority shall decide the quantum
 The amount of benefit sharing shall be
deposited with the National Gene Fund