Summary
The inventions of the plant and animal varieties and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals are excluded from patentability. In view of plant varieties a sui iuris form of legal protection is available under the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). The aim of legal protection of new plant varieties under UPOV is promoting the development of improved plant varieties for the benefit of farmers, growers and consumers. Effective plant variety protection can open a door to eco-nomic development, particularly in the rural sector, providing an in-centive for plant breeding in many different situations.
The process for the production of plants or animals is essentially biological if it consists entirely of natural phenomenon such as crossing or selection. The exclusion does not apply to micro-biological processes or the products of such processes.
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