Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding
Inventions related to pre-harvest and post-harvest
technologies have revolutionized agriculture. There is a
significant growth of intellectual property rights (IPR) in
agriculture across the globe. The predominant forms of IP
relevant to agriculture sector are patents and designs.
Patents are given to inventions that qualify patent eligibility,
patentability criteria and disclosure norms. In the area of
agriculture, patents provide a great opportunity for
improving agricultural processes and products.
Understanding the requirements of an invention under the
Indian Patents Act, 1970 is necessary to know what can be
patentable in India. The criteria of novelty, non-obviousness
and industrial application and disclosure norms are
applicable to all inventions irrespective of the technology
areas. Examination guidelines for each technology area
indicate to the elaborateness of the practice in relation to
patents. While preparing patent specifications for agriculture
inventions, it is important to ensure that the subject matter
claimed should not be a method of agriculture (under
Section 3h) or plants or plant parts (under Section 3j of the
Act). Identification of relevant prior art and its anticipatory
value is very important for the assessment of novelty of
inventions. Agriculture inventions which can lower the cost,
be obtained by reduced number of steps and are
environment friendly can be considered under ‘economic
significance’ by the Indian patent office (under the purview
of Section 2(1) ja). Adhering to the disclosure norms (as
mandated under Section 10 of the Act) are also important.
Inventors/applicants need to also consider the deposit
requirements. The present work examines the relevance of
IPR and expansion of the patentability criteria, disclosure
norms and additional requirements in relation to
agriculture. It will highlight the need for patent search as
an integral requirement for research, the process of
preparation of invention disclosures to enhance the
innovative ability of academic institutions as well as
researchers.
Keywords: Patents, agriculture, IPR, invention
Year: 2019
Volume: 79
Issue: 1, Supplement
Article DOI: 10.31742/IJGPB.79S.1.30
Print ISSN: 0019-5200
Online ISSN: 0975-6906
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