Law of Intellectual Property and Biodiversity
LL.M. · 14 topics in 5 units
Unit I 2 topics
- Biodiversity: Concept, Significance and Key TermsWhat biodiversity means at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels, why it matters (ecological, economic, cultural, ethical), and the legal meaning of genetic material, genetic resources, biological resources and benefit-sharing under the CBD, the Nagoya Protocol and the Biological Diversity Act 2002 as amended in 2023.8 min
- Loss of Biodiversity, Technology and the Impact of IPR on ConservationThe direct and underlying drivers of biodiversity loss, the role of technology in socio-economic growth from the Green Revolution to biotechnology, and the competing arguments on whether intellectual property rights help or harm biodiversity conservation.6 min
Unit II 6 topics
- International Plant Protection Convention (1951) and Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources (1962)The FAO's plant health treaty of 1951, its revisions, phytosanitary standards and link with the WTO SPS Agreement and invasive species; and UN General Assembly Resolution 1803 of 1962 on permanent sovereignty over natural resources, the move from common heritage to state sovereignty, and its echo in Article 3 and 15 of the CBD.7 min
- International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, 2001The FAO Plant Treaty as a biodiversity instrument: why food crops needed a multilateral system instead of the CBD's bilateral model, its objectives, conservation duties, farmers' rights, the Multilateral System with the SMTA and Article 12.3(d), and its relationship with the CBD, Nagoya, TRIPS and Indian law.7 min
- The Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992The Rio Convention's origins, three objectives, sovereignty principle, conservation duties (in situ, ex situ, Article 8(j)), access to genetic resources under Article 15, technology transfer and the IP clause in Article 16, biotechnology and biosafety under Article 19, institutions and finance, and the Kunming-Montreal Framework of 2022.7 min
- The Cartagena Protocol on BiosafetyThe 2000 Protocol under the CBD on transboundary movement of living modified organisms: scope, advance informed agreement, the special procedure for food, feed and processing, the precautionary approach, risk assessment, labelling, socio-economic considerations, the 2010 Supplementary Protocol on liability, its tension with the WTO, and India's biosafety regime and GM crop litigation.6 min
- The Bonn Guidelines on Access and Benefit-Sharing (2002) and the Nagoya ProtocolThe voluntary Bonn Guidelines adopted at COP6 in 2002 to implement Article 15 of the CBD: their scope, roles of focal points and competent authorities, user and provider responsibilities, prior informed consent, mutually agreed terms, monetary and non-monetary benefits and user-country measures; and how their weakness led to the binding Nagoya Protocol of 2010.6 min
- The CBD and TRIPS; the CBD and UPOVWhether the CBD conflicts with the TRIPS Agreement: Article 27.3(b), the Doha mandate, the disclosure-of-origin proposals and the 2024 WIPO Treaty; and the relationship between the CBD and UPOV, especially the 1991 Act's breeders' exemption, farmers' privilege and bar on extra conditions, with India's PPV&FR Act as a middle path.6 min
Unit III 2 topics
- Evolution of Biodiversity Law in India and the Biological Diversity Act, 2002From community conservation and colonial forest law through the wildlife, forest and environment statutes and the constitutional duties of 1976 to the Biological Diversity Act 2002: its objects, scheme and salient features, the 2023 amendment in force from April 2024, the 2024 Rules and 2025 ABS Regulations, and the main critiques.6 min
- Interface between IPRs, Plant Breeders' Rights, Farmers' Rights, Indigenous Peoples' Rights and Community RightsHow five kinds of rights over biological resources and knowledge meet and collide: private IP and plant breeders' rights against farmers' rights under the ITPGRFA and PPV&FR Act, indigenous peoples' rights under UNDRIP and the Forest Rights Act, and community rights under the BDA, with the Kani-Jeevani, Niyamgiri, PepsiCo and Divya Pharmacy examples and comparative models.7 min
Unit IV 2 topics
- National Biodiversity Authority, State Biodiversity Boards and Biodiversity Management CommitteesThe three-tier structure of the Biological Diversity Act as amended in 2023: composition, powers, functions and duties of the NBA (sections 8 to 21, 50), the State Biodiversity Boards (sections 22 to 25) and the Biodiversity Management Committees (sections 41 to 47), with the funds, People's Biodiversity Registers and the NGT's directions on BMCs.7 min
- Prior Approval, Prior Intimation, Approval for IPR and Benefit-Sharing under the Biological Diversity ActThe access rules of the Biological Diversity Act as amended in 2023: who needs NBA prior approval (sections 3, 4, 5, 19, 20), who gives prior intimation to the SBB and who is exempt (sections 7, 24, 40), approval and registration before grant of IP (section 6), and the determination and modes of fair and equitable benefit sharing (section 21), with the Divya Pharmacy case and the 2025 ABS Regulations.8 min
Unit V 2 topics
- Powers and Duties of the Central and State Governments; Offences, Penalties and AppealsThe duties of the Central and State Governments under Chapter IX and the miscellaneous provisions of the Biological Diversity Act (strategies, heritage sites, threatened species, repositories, exemptions, directions, rules), the decriminalised penalty regime with adjudicating officers since 2024, cognizance, and appeals to the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court.8 min
- The Biological Diversity Act and the Patents Act, PPV&FR Act and GI ActHow the Biological Diversity Act 2002 (as amended in 2023) works with the Patents Act 1970 (exclusions, source disclosure, TK grounds of opposition and revocation, NBA approval before grant), the PPV&FR Act 2001 (exemption from NBA approval, sections 6(3)-(4) and 59A, parallel benefit sharing, Monsanto v. Nuziveedu) and the GI Act 1999, with the gaps and overlaps among them.7 min