The extension of the intellectual property rights regime to agriculture under the WTO agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) will in many ways directly affect agricultural research and technology transfer in India. It also has significant implications for long term national food security, ownership and conservation of genetic resources and biodiversity, and protection of farmers knowledge and rights. In addition to TRIPS, several other international agreements like the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), The FAO International Agreement on Plant Genetic Resources, and other agreements on plant variety protection address to varying degrees the questions related to intellectual property protection in agriculture. They will have an increasingly crucial role in determining future agricultural research policies, goals and management strategies.

      Scientists, faculty and research managers of the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) need to understand the intricacies of various agreements that affect intellectual property used and generated in agricultural research and develop proficiencies in activities related to intellectual property management. These activities include filing and processing of patents, protecting plant varieties, devising and entering into material transfer agreements, opposing patents detrimental to national interest, and countering opposition in registering patents. This module introduces the various international agreements affecting intellectual property in agriculture, the status of India’s compliance, their implications for agricultural research and technology transfer, the procedures for searching and filing patents and leads towards the development of institutional policies for intellectual property management in NARS.