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CS Professional · Intellectual Property Rights - Law and Practice · Protection of Plant Varieties

Kisan Beej Sanstha in Nashik has bred a new onion line, but all that has been developed is a single batch of bulbs. A lawyer asks whether it fits the Act's meaning of 'variety'. Which feature must the plant grouping have to satisfy that definition?

A variety is a plant grouping, excluding micro-organisms, within the lowest known botanical taxon. It must be defined by genotype-based characteristics, distinguishable from others by at least one characteristic, and a unit that remains unchanged after propagation.

  1. AIt must be defined by the expression of characteristics resulting from a given genotype, be distinguishable from other groupings by at least one characteristic, and remain unchanged after propagation as a unitCorrect
  2. BIt must be a micro-organism grouping classified within a single botanical taxon of the highest known rank
  3. CIt must have been notified under the Seeds Act, 1966 before the Act came into force
  4. DIt must be cultivated only by farmers on their own land for at least three generations

Explanation

The definition of 'variety' covers a plant grouping, excluding micro-organisms, within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank. It must be defined by genotype-based characteristics, be distinguishable by at least one characteristic, and be a unit that stays unchanged after propagation. The option about micro-organisms and the highest rank reverses both the exclusion and the rank.

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