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Law of Intellectual Property and Plant Varieties

LL.M. · 12 topics in 5 units

Past question papers for Law of Intellectual Property and Plant Varieties

Unit I 4 topics

  1. Seeds, Propagating Material and the Seeds Act 1966: Background and Basic ConceptsThe road from farm-saved seed and public breeding to the PPV&FR Act, the statutory meaning of seed, propagating material, variety, breeder and farmer, the relevant provisions of the Seeds Act 1966, and how seed quality law and plant variety protection fit together.7 min
  2. Plant Breeders' Rights and Intellectual PropertyWhat plant breeders' rights are, why plants needed a sui generis regime, TRIPS Article 27(3)(b), how PBRs differ from patents and other IP rights, and the impact of a PBR system on seed markets, farmers and socio-economic growth in India.5 min
  3. Patents on Plants and Seeds: India and Comparative LawWhere patents end and plant variety rights begin: section 3(j) of the Patents Act and Monsanto v. Nuziveedu (2019), the US route from Chakrabarty to J.E.M. v. Pioneer and Bowman v. Monsanto, Schmeiser in Canada, and the EU Biotech Directive and EPO decisions from Broccoli/Tomato to Pepper.6 min
  4. Biopiracy: Neem, Turmeric, Basmati and the PepsiCo Potato DisputeWhat biopiracy means and why it happens, the neem patent at the EPO, the turmeric and basmati patents in the US, India's legal responses, and the PepsiCo FL-2027 potato dispute from the 2019 suits against farmers to the Delhi High Court Division Bench in 2024.6 min

Unit II 1 topic

  1. PPV&FR Act 2001: Scheme and Kinds of VarietiesThe objects and institutions of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001, and the four kinds of variety it recognises: new variety, extant variety, farmers' variety and essentially derived variety, with the statutory definitions and the problems each raises.6 min

Unit III 2 topics

  1. Registration of Plant Varieties: DUS, Exclusions, Opposition and RevocationRegistrable and non-registrable varieties under the PPV&FR Act 2001, the DUS test and denomination rules, who may apply and what the application must contain, advertisement, opposition and counter-statement under section 21, the certificate and its term, and revocation under section 34.8 min
  2. Rights of Breeders, Researchers, Farmers and Communities; Benefit SharingThe four sets of rights that registration under the PPV&FR Act 2001 creates: the breeder's exclusive right (s.28), the researcher's right (s.30), farmers' rights (s.39 to 44) and communities' rights (s.41), with benefit sharing (s.26), the National Gene Fund (s.45) and a comparison with UPOV.6 min

Unit IV 2 topics

  1. Licences, Infringement, Remedies and Offences under the PPV&FR ActVoluntary authorisation and registered licences, compulsory licences under sections 47 to 53, what counts as infringement of a registered variety, the civil remedies in sections 65 to 67, and the offences and graded penalties in sections 68 to 77, with the farmer's innocent-infringement shield.7 min
  2. PPV&FR Act: Authority, Registry, Appeals, Transfer of Rights and Powers of GovernmentsHow rights in a registered variety pass by assignment, succession and authorisation, the composition and functions of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority and the Plant Varieties Registry, the appellate tribunal that was never set up and the High Court appeal that replaced it, and the powers of the Central and State Governments under the Act.7 min

Unit V 3 topics

  1. The UPOV Convention: 1978 and 1991 ActsThe UPOV system from 1961, the conditions of protection, the scope of the breeder's right and its exceptions under the 1978 and 1991 Acts, essentially derived varieties and the farmers' privilege, and why India stayed outside UPOV.5 min
  2. International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and AgricultureThe FAO's 2001 Plant Treaty: its origins in the International Undertaking, objectives, conservation duties, farmers' rights under Article 9, the Multilateral System of access and benefit sharing with its Annex I crops and Standard Material Transfer Agreement, the IP clause in Article 12.3(d), and its relationship with the CBD and India's law.6 min
  3. CBD, the Nagoya Protocol and the Biological Diversity ActSovereignty over genetic resources, prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms under the CBD (1992), the compliance machinery of the Nagoya Protocol (2010), and India's Biological Diversity Act 2002 as amended in 2023, with the IP approval rule, benefit sharing and the Divya Pharmacy case.6 min