The legal protection of breeder's rights for new plant varieties in Thailand: The need for law reform considering the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants 1991

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines the possible changes to the provisions on the protection of new plant varieties under the Plant Variety Protection Act B.E. 2542 (A.D. 1999), or the Thai PVPA 1999, if Thailand chooses to ratify the 1991 International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, or the UPOV Convention 1991. It confirms the need to develop the Thai PVPA 1999, given that several ASEAN countries have already ratified the UPOV Convention 1991, making it the new standard for new plant variety protection in the Southeast Asian region. It argues that although the current provisions of the Thai PVPA 1999 appear to meet the minimum standards of protection under the Agreement on Trade‐Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), they still fall short compared with the UPOV Convention 1991 provisions. This article asserts that to make the provisions of the Thai PVPA 1999 consistent with those of the UPOV Convention 1991, several provisions of the former—such as the scope of breeder's rights, exceptions, and the duration of protection—must be further developed.