Registering a Variety, and the Four Kinds the Act Knows

In one line

Four kinds of variety, four criteria, one register, and a term that runs to fifteen or eighteen years.

In exam wording: section 15 of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 provides that a new variety shall be registered if it conforms to the criteria of novelty, distinctiveness, uniformity and stability, and that an extant variety shall be registered within a specified period if it conforms to such criteria of distinctiveness, uniformity and stability as are specified by regulations; section 16 lists the persons who may apply, including any farmer or group or community of farmers claiming to be the breeder, and any university or publicly funded agricultural institution; section 18 prescribes the form of the application, requiring an affidavit that the variety contains no gene or gene sequence involving terminator technology, complete passport data of the parental lines with the geographical location in India from which the genetic material was taken and information on the contribution of any farmer, village community, institution or organisation, and a declaration that the genetic or parental material was lawfully acquired, with a proviso that clauses (b) to (i) do not apply to an application for a farmers' variety; section 23 governs the registration of an essentially derived variety; section 24 the certificate of registration and the term; section 27 the deposit of seed in the National Gene Bank; section 28 the rights conferred; and section 29 the exclusion of certain varieties.

The four criteria, and who must meet which

A new variety: novelty, distinctiveness, uniformity and stability.

Novel. At the date of filing, the propagating or harvested material has not been sold or otherwise disposed of by or with the consent of the breeder or his successor for the purposes of exploitation earlier than one year in India, or outside India earlier than six years for trees and vines or four years in any other case. A trial of a variety not sold or disposed of does not affect the right; and the fact that the material has become a matter of common knowledge otherwise than in the manner described does not affect novelty.

Distinct. Clearly distinguishable by at least one essential characteristic from any other variety whose existence is a matter of common knowledge in any country at the time of filing. The Explanation deems a variety a matter of common knowledge from the date of an application in a convention country for a breeder's right or for entry in an official register, if the application leads to the grant or the entry.

Uniform. Subject to the variation expected from the particular features of its propagation, sufficiently uniform in its essential characteristics.

Stable. Its essential characteristics remain unchanged after repeated propagation or, in a particular cycle, at the end of each cycle.