Skip to main content

The Plant Variety protection in India follows additional tests besides Novelty, namely Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) tests which are field based. The results of these tests are therefore not available to the public and the objections with respect to the distinctness of a plant variety were not being raised in a transparent manner. Anand and Anand patent team challenged this practice when registration of Pioneer’s Maize plant variety P3436 was objected to as being identical to Kaveri Seeds plant variety KM25K55. The case was even intriguing as Pioneer has sued Kaveri for infringing their rights on registered plant variety 30B07 along with evidence that 30B07 is identically similar to KM25K55.

The plant variety authority appreciated Anand and Anand arguments and recognized the need for transparency and the right to information of the Applicant to defend the objections raised by the Authority during prosecution. This order changes the practice of the Plant Variety Authority of not furnishing the DUS test data of co-pending applications which they rely upon for the objection of identical similarity. The order directed comparison data as well as DUS test results of variety P3436, variety KMH25K55 to be furnished to the appellant.

Most Recent

News & Insights

VIEW ALL
News & Updates
Dec 05, 2025

The High Court of Delhi in a significant interim ruling, “AB SKF vs M/S PARAMOUNT BEARING CO. & ORS.”, CS(COMM) 963/2025, dated 19/11/2025 has clarified

Distinction Between Order 38, Rule 5 and Order 39, Rules 1-2 CPC in the Context of “Maintenance of Status Quo”
News & Updates
Nov 26, 2025

Authored by Pravin Anand There are areas of intellectual property law where one can sense, quite literally, the convergence of disciplines that do not

When Art Meets Science in Trademark Law: Reflections on India’s First Smell Mark
Thought Leadership
Nov 25, 2025

First published on Lexology. Authored by Vaishali R Mittal In a landmark moment for Indian intellectual property law, the Trademarks Registry has accepted

Scenting the Future: How India’s First Smell Mark Application Aligns with Global Jurisprudence
Thought Leadership
Nov 21, 2025

We are proud to share that the Trade Marks Registry of India has, for the first time, accepted an olfactory (smell) mark for advertisement — “Floral

A Landmark First for Indian Trademark Law