Legal provision for the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer�s rights of India

Abstract

In the year 2001 the Indian Govt. adopted Protection of Plat Varieties and Farmers Right Act. Since India became a signatory to the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), in a year 1994 the legislation of Trade-Related Aspects Agreement (TRIPs) had to be formulated. Under the said legislation Article 27.3(b) of such Agreement required Member States to ensure that plant varieties are covered by, or by a combination of, a patent or an effective sui generis programme. The Member States therefore had option to frame such laws which suits their own structure and then India exercised that right. In the year 1970 Indian Patent Act ruled out patentability for agricultural and horticultural processing methods. The sui generis scheme for protection of plant varieties developed in order to integrate the rights of breeders, farmers and villagers and to resolve issues relating to fair profit sharing. Here paper seeks to critically analyze the policy frameworks for their successful implementation.