Consider the following statements:
1. According to the Indian Patents Act, a biological process to create a seed can be patented in India.
2. In India, there is no Intellectual Property Appellate Board.
3. Plant varieties are not eligible to be patented in India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Explanation
Statement 1 is incorrect: Under Section 3(j) of the Indian Patents Act, 1970, plants and animals in whole or any part thereof (including seeds, varieties, and species) and essentially biological processes for production or propagation of plants and animals are excluded from patentability.
Statement 2 is incorrect: At the time of the examination (2019), the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) existed as an active statutory appellate tribunal (constituted in 2003 under the Trade Marks Act, 1999) before being abolished later via the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021.
Statement 3 is correct: Under Section 3(j) of the Patents Act, plant varieties are strictly non-patentable in India. Instead, plant varieties are protected through plant breeders’ rights under a separate sui generis law: the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPVFR) Act, 2001.
Hence, only statement 3 is correct — Option C.