Farmers and Breeders Rights
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University · LL.B. Semester 9 · E5
Unit I — Background history leading to contemporary laws; definitions of seeds, plants, propagation materials, the
Seeds Act of 1966, definition of plant variety, new variety, plant breeder, farmer, cultivator, plant breeders’ rights · (PBRs), and farmers' rights; differentiating between PBRs and intellectual property rights (IPRs, such as patents), and the effects of the PBRs system on the country's socio-economic development.
Unit II — An analytical overview of the key aspects of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights
(PPV&FR) Act, 2001, including the definitions and significance of a New Variety, Essentially Derived Variety · (EDV), Farmer Variety, and existing variety.
Unit III — Conditions or requirements for the registration of a plant variety, registrable and non-registrable plant
varieties, procedure for the registration of different kinds of plant varieties, opposition proceedings and grounds of opposition, rights available to the plant breeders, researchers, farmers and communities upon the registration of a variety, term of protection available for different registered varieties and benefit-sharing; surrender and revocation of certificate and rectification of register.
Unit IV — Transfer of rights or interest: Assignment, Transmission and Licenses, Remedies for infringement of
breeders’ rights, offenses and penalties; Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Right Authority and Registry, · Plant Varieties Protection Appellate Tribunal, Powers of the Central and State Governments under the PPV&FR · Act, 2001.
Unit V — Provisions of international legal instruments having a bearing a on plant variety protection: TRIPs
Agreement, 1994, Intergovernmental Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), · International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture(IGPFRA), Comparative analysis with · European plant variety protection regime, Genetically Modified seeds and transgenic seeds, the relationship between