Application for intellectual property rights not to be made without approval of National Biodiversity Authority

Section 6 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 deals with application for intellectual property rights not to be made without approval of National Biodiversity Authority. Any person or entity covered under sub-section (2) of section 3 applying for an intellectual property right, by whatever name called, in or outside India, for any invention based on any research or information on a biological resource which is accessed from India, including those deposited in reposi The Act came into force on 01 Oct 2003.

¹[(1) Any person or entity covered under sub-section (2) of section 3 applying for an intellectual property right, by whatever name called, in or outside India, for any invention based on any research or information on a biological resource which is accessed from India, including those deposited in repositories outside India, or traditional knowledge associated thereto, shall obtain prior approval of the National Biodiversity Authority before grant of such intellectual property rights

(1A) Any person covered under section 7 applying for any intellectual property right, by whatever name called, in or outside India, for any invention based on any research or information on a biological resource which is accessed from India, including those deposited in repositories outside India, or traditional knowledge associated thereto, shall register with the National Biodiversity Authority before grant of such intellectual property rights.

(1B) Any person covered under section 7 who has obtained intellectual property right, by whatever name called, in or outside India, for any invention based on any research or information on a biological resource which is accessed from India, including those deposited in repositories outside India, or traditional knowledge associated thereto, shall obtain prior approval of the National Biodiversity Authority at the time of commercialisation.]br

(2) The National Biodiversity Authority may, while granting the approval under this section, impose benefit sharing fee or royalty or both or impose conditions including the sharing of financial benefits arising out of the commercial utilisation of such rights.

(3) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person making an application for any right under any law relating to protection of plant varieties ²***.

(4) Where any right is granted under law referred to in sub-section (3), the concerned authority granting such right shall endorse a copy of such document granting the right to the National Biodiversity Authority.

Section 6, The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (Act 18 of 2003).