Geographical Indications, Plant Varieties and Traditional Knowledge

Prerequisites: Patents and TRIPS: Section 3(d) and Compulsory Licensing · Biodiversity and Conservation

The Hook: A Treaty Against Biopiracy

The Core Concept

Patents reward an individual inventor for something new. The rights in this note are different — they protect collective knowledge, place-linked reputation and farmers’ contributions. They are India’s way of making the IP system work for its own strengths.

1. Geographical Indications (GIs)

What it is. A GI is a sign used on goods that come from a specific place and whose quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to that geographical origin — Darjeeling Tea, Mysore Silk, Kanchipuram silk saree, Madhubani painting, Nagpur orange.

How it works (in one paragraph). Under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 (in force from 15 September 2003), an association of producers, an organisation or an authority representing the producers applies to the Geographical Indications Registry at Chennai, which functions under the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. GIs can cover agricultural goods, natural goods, manufactured goods (including handicrafts and industrial goods) and foodstuffs. Once registered, the GI is valid for 10 years and can be renewed indefinitely. Individual producers register as authorised users. Only registered proprietors and authorised users may use the GI; others can be stopped through infringement action. Because it is a collective right tied to a place, a registered GI cannot be assigned, transferred, licensed, pledged or mortgaged.

International framework. TRIPS Article 22 gives general protection to GIs; Article 23 gives stronger protection only to wines and spirits. India and several developing countries seek the same higher protection for all products — Basmati, Darjeeling Tea, handicrafts.

India’s status. Darjeeling Tea was the first product registered as a GI in India (2004–05). Hundreds of products are now registered across every State. Some disputes are instructive: both Odisha’s Rasagola and West Bengal’s Banglar Rosogolla hold separate GI tags, because each describes a distinct local product. India applied to the European Union in 2018 for protection of Basmati rice; Pakistan opposed the application.

Issues. Low awareness among producers; few registered authorised users; weak quality control after registration; limited enforcement against counterfeits, especially abroad (a GI registered in India protects only in India); lack of marketing linkages — a tag alone does not raise prices.

2. Plant varieties and farmers’ rights

What it is. TRIPS Article 27.3(b) requires protection for plant varieties by patents or an effective sui generis system. India chose a sui generis law — the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001 — and did not join UPOV (whose 1991 Act limits farmers’ freedom to save and exchange seed).

How it works. Breeders register varieties with the PPV&FR Authority (Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare) if they meet DUS criteria — distinctiveness, uniformity and stability — plus novelty for new varieties. New varieties, extant varieties, farmers’ varieties and essentially derived varieties can all be registered. Protection lasts up to 18 years for trees and vines and 15 years for other crops.

Farmers’ rights (Section 39) — the law’s most distinctive feature:

• A farmer may save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share or sell farm produce, including seed of a protected variety, as before — but may not sell branded seed of a protected variety.
• Farmers can register their own varieties.
• Farmers who conserve genetic resources can be rewarded (Plant Genome Saviour awards; National Gene Fund).
• Breeders must disclose expected performance; if a variety fails to perform as claimed, farmers can claim compensation.
• Farmers are protected from liability for innocent infringement.

In 2019, suits filed by PepsiCo against potato farmers in Gujarat over a registered variety — later withdrawn — brought Section 39 into public debate.

3. Traditional knowledge and biopiracy

Biopiracy is the patenting or commercial use of biological resources or traditional knowledge without the consent of, or benefit-sharing with, the communities that hold them.

India’s response:

• Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) — set up in 2001 by CSIR and the Department of AYUSH (now the Ministry of Ayush). It documents knowledge from Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Yoga from classical texts, translated into languages and formats patent examiners use (English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish). Patent offices — beginning with the European Patent Office (2009) — get access under non-disclosure agreements, so they can find “prior art” and reject undeserving claims. It is a defensive tool: it prevents wrong patents rather than granting rights.
• Section 3(p) of the Patents Act — inventions that are traditional knowledge, or aggregations of known properties of traditional components, are not inventions.
• Biological Diversity Act, 2002 — the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), Chennai, must approve IPR claims based on biological resources or associated knowledge obtained from India (after the 2023 amendment, approval is needed before the IPR is granted rather than before the application is filed); access and benefit sharing in line with the Nagoya Protocol.
• Disclosure of origin in Indian patent applications, now matched internationally by the 2024 WIPO treaty.

graph TD
    A[Traditional knowledge and genetic resources] --> B[Defensive protection]
    A --> C[Positive protection]
    B --> D[TKDL as prior art]
    B --> E[Patents Act Section 3p and disclosure of origin]
    C --> F[GI tags for place-based products]
    C --> G[PPV and FR Act: farmer varieties]
    C --> H[Biological Diversity Act: benefit sharing]

Memory Anchors

GI in five words: “Place, People, Ten, Renew, Never-sell” → linked to a place; owned by producers collectively; 10 years; renewable; cannot be assigned.

DUS test: Distinct, Uniform, Stable.

Biopiracy trio: “T-N-B” → Turmeric (1997, USA), Neem (2000/2005, Europe), Basmati (RiceTec, USA).

One-line Mains hook: A GI is a reputation that belongs to a place — the task of policy is to make sure that reputation earns money for the people who live there.

For Prelims

For Mains

• Dimensions: rural livelihoods and artisans; export branding; farmers’ seed sovereignty; protection of indigenous communities; international negotiations (TRIPS Article 23 extension, disclosure of origin).
• Keywords: collective right, authorised users, sui generis, farmers’ rights, prior art, defensive protection, access and benefit sharing, biopiracy.
• Value-addition: turmeric (1997) and neem (2000/2005) revocations; TKDL (2001); PPV&FR Section 39; WIPO treaty (2024); Nagoya Protocol.

Common Traps

In the News

• May 2024 — WIPO adopts the Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge. Follow developments on the current affairs page.

Practice

Prelims

Mains

Quick Revision

Key Takeaways

Related Topics

• Patents and TRIPS: Section 3(d) and Compulsory Licensing
• IPR — quick revision
• IPR — practice questions
• Biodiversity and Conservation
• Agriculture and Food Security
• International Environmental Conventions — CBD and the Nagoya Protocol