Full Description
This book is the first to provide a detailed and critical account of the emergence, development, and implementation of plant variety protection laws in Asian countries. Each chapter undertakes a critical socio-legal analysis of one or more legal frameworks to understand, evaluate, and explore the concerns of diverse national stakeholders, the histories and dynamics of law-making, and the ways in which plant variety protection and seed certification laws interact with local agricultural systems.
The book also assesses how Asian countries can capitalise on the 'unused policy space' in international agreements such as the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, as well as international obligations beyond these, such as those contained in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Plant Treaty. It also highlights the many ways in which Asian experiences can offer new insights into the relationship between intellectual property and plants, and how relevant laws might be re-imagined in other regions, including Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
By adding an important new perspective to the ongoing debate on intellectual property and plants, this book will appeal to academics, practitioners, and policy-makers engaged in work surrounding intellectual property laws, agricultural biodiversity, and plant breeding.
Contents
List of illustrations
List of contributors
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Foreword
BRAD SHERMAN
1 Intellectual property law for plant varieties: Challenges and developments in Asia
KAMALESH ADHIKARI AND DAVID J. JEFFERSON
2 Plant breeders' rights proliferate in Asia: The spread of the UPOV Convention model
DAVID J. JEFFERSON
3 Essentially derived varieties: A workable compromise against free-riding breeders?
CHARLES LAWSON
4 Implementation of the plant variety protection laws of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines: Trends and future prospects
RAJESWARI KANNIAH
5 Opportunities and challenges created by the Plant Variety Protection and Farmers' Rights Act in India
R. C. AGRAWAL
6 Policy, politics, and implications of Pakistan's Plant Breeders' Rights Act
MUHAMMAD AHSAN RANA AND KAMALESH ADHIKARI
7 The National Seed Policy of Timor-Leste: Laying the foundation for the regulation of plant varieties as intellectual property
PRATAP SHRESTHA
8 A fresh look at the protection of 'domestic' and 'wild' plant varieties in Thailand
PAWARIT LERTDHAMTEWE AND DAVID J. JEFFERSON
9 From neglect to protection: Recognising the importance of farmers' varieties in Sri Lanka
ASANKA PERERA AND KAMALESH ADHIKARI
10 What does it mean to protect farmers' varieties as intellectual property?
KAMALESH ADHIKARI
Index
