BP Singh

236 R.S. Ranasuch as Breeder's Rights over exclusive production and marketingof seed of an improved variety.General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT with its newform of World Trade Organization) was finally concluded . andsigned by over 120 nations in December, 1993. India is among the64 countries who had ratified this multilateral agreement by June1994 and the agreement is legally binding. It includesTrade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). GATT hasbeen replaced by World Trade Organisation (WTO) since 1stJanuary, 1995.All the contracting parties are bound to provide certainminimum levels of protection to new plant varieties through aneffective Sui generis system or patenting or a suitable combinationof both.Criteria for Granting Protection to a New Plant Varietyi) Novelty: The criterion of 'novelty' replaces that of 'nonobvious'which is the requirement for protection of a newinvention. It is used in the sense that the new variety should nothave been ,commercially exploited for more than a year beforegranting protection.ii) Distinctiveness: The new variety must possess a trait thatmake it distinguishable from other known varieties by one or more~dentifiable morphological, physiological, or other characteristics.iii) UnHormity: The new variety must be uniform in appearanceunder specified environment of its adaptation ..iv) Stability: The new variety must be stable in appearance andits claimed characteristics over successive generations underspecified environment.Union for the Protection of (New) Plant Varieties (UPOV)This International Union, founded in 1961 in Geneva(Switzerland) has 24 member countries and has held severalconventions. India is not yet a member of UPOV. Provisions ofthe 1991 Convention are far more strict in protection regime ascompared to ,those of the 1978 Convention. Although the basicinternational treaty prOVisiOns, as amended by the 1991 Convention,have not been accepted by most national governments so far, yet