Mechanisms for Protection of Agricultural Innovations in India

DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, Mar 2010

The paper discusses various conventions/treaties/agreements affecting agriculture innovation systems, and the legal echanisms existing in India for such innovations. It raises concerns on how the policy environment and governance is affecting the agriculture at large, and agri-based products in particular. It also discusses the role of various agencies including public, private and NGOs in India in protecting vast biodiversity and the measures they need to take to meet the challenges related to issue of IP protection related to agriculture in the country.http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/djlit.27.6.140

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Mechanisms for Protection of Agricultural Innovations in India

DESIDOC Bull. Inf. Technol. Mechanisms for Protection of Agricultural Innovations in India R. Kalpana Sastry E-mail: 0 0 National Academy of Agricultural Research Management Rajendranagar , Hyderabad-560 030 The paper discusses various conventions/treaties/agreements affecting agriculture innovation systems, and the legal mechanisms existing in India for such innovations. It raises concerns on how the policy environment and governance is affecting the agriculture at large, and agri-based products in particular. It also discusses the role of various agencies including public, private and NGOs in India in protecting vast biodiversity and the measures they need to take to meet the challenges related to issue of IP protection related to agriculture in the country. Agriculture innovation; CBD; CITES; IPPC; TRIPS; UPOV; ITPGRFA 1. INTRODUCTION Distinct paradigm shifts in agricultural systems are progressively reorienting mechanisms and mode of agricultural research and innovation systems all over the world including India. Encouraging results and broad commercial prospects are catalysing forces1 for new players including private sector to be part of this. However, the entry of new players and opening of markets in global arena has also brought new equations on owning of intellectual property (IP) and resultant difficulties in accessing inputs for research. The role of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in international trade, the global economy and international relation has grown considerably, especially since 1970s2. IPR-protected products, technologies and services are major exports and rights manifesting in form of licenses to use the patented processes, products, designs, trademarks or copyrights. All these developments necessitated legal protection mechanisms to be in place3. Over the last few decades, several agreements at various international fora have been negotiated and adopted in order to enhance and better the livelihood, and to help the nations achieve the targets set in the millennium development goals. Some of these are of direct relevance to sustainable agriculture, enhanced trade and ensuring better environment. The agreements include Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), 1992; Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), 1973; International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), 1997; International Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties (UPOV), 1978 and 1991; Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, 2000; Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), 1994; and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), 2001. These international conventions/treaties/agreements have comprehensive provisions for conservation and sustainable use of, and access to genetic resources and for sharing of benefits derived from their use4. Concurrently, new emerging regimes in protection mechanisms for innovations at the global levels are impacting the access, transfer, and use of biological/genetical resources for furthering the research and developmental activities in all fields of agriculture (Table 1). All these agreements have thus led several national governments, including India, to put in place the commensurate and compliant mechanisms and instruments. Some of the legal instruments passed by the Indian Parliament as part of compliance to the TRIPS include: The Patents Act, 1970 (No. 39 of 1970); The Patents (Amendment) Act, 1999 (No. 17 of 1999); Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002 (No. 38 of 2002); The Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 (No. 15 of 2005); The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999; and The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act, 2001 [PPV and FR Act) (No. 53 of 2001)]. Apart from these, the Government of India also enacted an umbrella legislation called the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (No.18 of 2003). Consequently, the operational mechanisms and setting up of the regulatory bodies is now in process. That the mechanisms are in place indicate towards creating an enabling environment of actualising and ensuring complementation for positive synergies towards building strong IPs in products or processes (Table 2). It is important to recognise that a productive and sustainable agriculture sector is critical to achieve economic growth and poverty reduction. Farmers and professional scientists continuously use the native biological sources, often recombine them as inputs to create new varieties or new processes based on traditional knowledge to combat biotic agents in order to sustain productivity as economic and environmental conditions change5. These researches are often supplemented by the contribution of farmers or grassroot innovators. Thus, the primary inputs for the agricultural systems are from the very biodiversity of which agrobiodiversity is a part6. This part feeds, nurtures people and includes genetic resources (GR) for food and agriculture, livestock, fish and non-domesticated resources f (...truncated)


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R. Kalpana Sastry. Mechanisms for Protection of Agricultural Innovations in India, DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, 2010, pp. 3-11, 6,